The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of
filmmaking
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
, i.e., film
production companies,
film studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...
s,
cinematography
Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...
,
animation
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
,
film production
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
,
screenwriting
Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.
Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, dev ...
,
pre-production,
post-production,
film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online.
Films may be of recent ...
s,
distribution, and actors. Though the expense involved in making
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
almost immediately led film production to concentrate under the auspices of standing production companies, advances in affordable filmmaking equipment, as well as an expansion of opportunities to acquire investment capital from outside the film industry itself, have allowed
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...
production to evolve.
In 2019, the global
box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
was worth .
When including box office and
home entertainment revenue, the global film industry was worth in 2018.
Hollywood is the world's oldest national film industry, and largest in terms of box-office gross revenue.
Modern film industry
The worldwide theatrical market had a box office of in 2019. The top three continents/regions by box-office gross were Asia-Pacific with , the U.S. and Canada with , and Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with . , the largest markets by box office were, in decreasing order, the United States,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
,
the United Kingdom,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.
, the countries with the largest number of film productions were
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, and the United States. In Europe, significant centers of movie production are France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
China

The
cinema of China
The cinema of China is the filmmaking and film industry of mainland China, one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese languages, Chinese-language cinema together with the cinema of Hong Kong and the cinema of Taiwan. China is the hom ...
is one of three distinct historical threads of
Chinese-language cinema together with the
cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese-language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former Crown colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of ar ...
and the
cinema of Taiwan
The cinema of Taiwan or Taiwan cinema ( zh, t=臺灣電影 or ) is deeply rooted in the island's History of Taiwan, unique history. Since its introduction to Taiwan in 1901 under Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule, cinema has developed i ...
. Cinema was introduced in China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, ''
Dingjun Mountain'', was made in 1905, with the film industry being centered on
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
in the first decades. China is the home of one of the largest film studios in the world, the
Hengdian World Studios, and in 2010 it had the third largest film industry by number of feature films produced annually. For the next decade, the production companies were mainly foreign-owned, and the domestic film industry was centered on Shanghai, a thriving
entrepot and the largest city in the
Far East
The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
. In 1913, the first independent Chinese
screenplay
A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...
, ''
The Difficult Couple'', was filmed in
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
by
Zheng Zhengqiu and
Zhang Shichuan.
As the Sixth Generation gained international exposure, many subsequent films were joint ventures and projects with international backers but remained quite resolutely low-key and low-budget . Jia's ''
Platform'' (2000) was funded in part by
Takeshi Kitano's production house,
while his ''Still Life'' was shot on HD video. ''Still Life'' was a surprise addition and
Golden Lion winner of the 2006 Venice International Film Festival. ''Still Life'', which concerns provincial workers around the
Three Gorges
The Three Gorges () are three adjacent and sequential gorges along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River path, in the hinterland of the People's Republic of China. With a subtropical monsoon climate, they are known for their scenery.
The T ...
region, sharply contrasts with the works of Fifth
Generation
A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...
Chinese directors like
Zhang Yimou and
Chen Kaige who were at the time producing ''
House of Flying Daggers'' (2004) and ''The Promise'' (2005). It featured no star of international renown and was acted mostly by non-professionals. In 2012 the country became the second-largest market in the world by box office receipts. In 2014, the gross box office in China was
¥29.6 billion (
US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
4.82 billion), with domestic films having a share of 55%.
China has also become a major hub of business for Hollywood studios.
In 2018, China's gross box office was US$8.9 Billion
In 2013, China's gross box office was ¥21.8 billion (US$3.6 billion), the second-largest film market in the world by box office receipts It increased to $4.8 Billion in 2014
box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
grosser in film industry. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, in 2020
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
overtook North America as world's biggest box office, being the first country to achieve this status. China retained this status in 2021. However, in 2022, North America once again overtook China as the global box office's biggest market.
United States
The
cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century.
Classical Hollywood cinema, a filmma ...
, often generally referred to as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. The United States cinema (Hollywood) is the oldest film industry in the world and also the largest film industry in terms of revenue.
Hollywood is the primary nexus of the U.S. film industry with established film study facilities such as the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
,
LA Film School, and NYFA being established in the area. However, four of the
six major film studios are owned by
East Coast companies. The
major film studios of Hollywood including
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
,
20th Century Studios
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
, and
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
are the primary source of the
most commercially successful movies in the world,
including movies such as ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
'' (1965), ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' (1977), ''
Titanic'' (1997), and ''
Avatar
Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...
'' (2009).
American film studios today collectively generate several hundred films every year, making the United States the most prolific producers of films in the world. Most shooting now takes place in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
New York,
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
and
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
.
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, especially in the
Albuquerque and Santa Fe areas, had been an increasingly popular state for filming; the television show ''
Breaking Bad
''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...
'' was set there, and movies such as ''
No Country for Old Men
''No Country for Old Men'' is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written, directed, produced and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin ...
'' and ''
Rust'' were shot there. Between 2009 and 2015, Hollywood consistently grossed $10 billion (or more) annually. Hollywood's award ceremony, the
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
, officially known as The Oscars, is held by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
(AMPAS) every year and as of 2019, more than 3,000 Oscars have been awarded.

On 27 October 1911,
Nestor Film Company established Hollywood's first permanent film studio. The California weather allowed for year-round filming. In 1912,
Universal Studios was formed, merging Nestor and several other motion picture companies, including
Independent Moving Pictures (IMP).
India

India is the largest producer of films in the world and the second-oldest film industry in the world.
[Khanna, "The Business of Hindi Films", 140] The country is home to some of the most important cities in the global film industry:
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
(previously Bombay),
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
and
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
(Madras). In 2009, India produced a total of 2,961 films on celluloid; this figure includes 1,288 feature films.
Besides being the largest producer of films in the world, India also has the largest number of admissions. Indian film industry is
multi-lingual and the largest in the world in terms of ticket sales but 3rd-largest in terms of revenue, mainly due to having among the lowest ticket prices in the world. The industry is viewed mainly by a vast film-going Indian public. Indian film industry is also the dominant source of films and entertainment in its neighboring countries of
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
. The three largest film industries in India are
Hindi cinema
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
,
Telugu cinema
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...
and
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...
. The Hindi film industry is mostly concentrated in Mumbai (Bombay), and it is commonly referred to as
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
, a portmanteau of Bombay and Hollywood. Telugu cinema is primarily concentrated in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
and is commonly referred to as
Tollywood. The Tamil film industry i.e.
Kollywood is mostly concentrated in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
.
Besides the mainstream commercial movies, India also offers a different approach to cinema: the
parallel cinema
Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Cinema of India, Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema.
Inspired by Italian Neorealism, ...
. The parallel cinema movement originated in
West Bengal
West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
around the 1950s. The movement was initially led by
Bengali cinema. It later gained prominence in other film industries in India. Parallel cinema is a blanket term designated to a certain type of films that stray away from the conventions of popular mainstream cinema. Parallel cinema has assumed various forms throughout the years. Filmmakers associated with parallel cinema are
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...
,
Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen ( ; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was a Bengali film director and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, and a few Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu language films. Regarded as on ...
,
Ritwik Ghatak
Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and playwright. Widely considered as one of the greatest film makers of all time, his works remained largely underrated and ignored during hi ...
. Parallel films are characterized by their rejection of popular forms like the songs and fight sequences, their affinity for rural settings, their use of method actors, and toned-down color palettes. The best examples of parallel cinema are the most famous films of Ray –
Pather Panchali
(, ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali language, Bengali-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray in his directorial debut. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's 1929 Bengali Pather Panchali ...
(1955),
Aparajito (1956), and
The World of Apu (1959) – which formed
The Apu Trilogy
''The Apu Trilogy'' is a celebrated series of three Indian Bengali-language drama films directed by Satyajit Ray: ''Pather Panchali'' (1955), ''Aparajito'' (1956) and ''The World of Apu'' (1959). The trilogy's evocative score was composed by Rav ...
. Some other examples of such movies are ''
Raincoat'', ''
Dhobi Ghat'', ''
Mithya''. Indian films have garnered popularity not only in the domestic market but also in the international markets, with ''
Dangal'' having an overseas gross revenue of $260 million, ''
Secret Superstar'' and ''
Bajrangi Bhaijaan'' making a gross revenue of $80.4 million, and ''
Baahubali: The Beginning and
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion'' (a blockbuster duology from
Telugu cinema
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...
) grossing over $370 million globally. In India, they have over 400 production houses with 32 corporate houses; also supporting the livelihood of more than 6 million people.
The other largest film industries are
Malayalam cinema
Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...
,
Kannada cinema,
Bengali cinema (
cinema of West Bengal
Cinema of West Bengal, also known as Tollywood or Bengali cinema, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Bengali language widely spoken in the state of West Bengal. It is base ...
) and
Marathi cinema
Marathi cinema is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Marathi language, which is widely spoken in the state of Maharashtra. It is based out of Mumbai. It is the oldest film ind ...
, primarily located in
Kochi
Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...
,
Bengaluru
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
,
Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
, and
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
, respectively. The remaining majority portion are spread across northern, eastern, western, and southern India (with
Gujarati,
Punjabi,
Odia,
Bhojpuri,
Assamese Cinema). However, there are several smaller centers of Indian film industries in regional languages centered in the states where those languages are spoken. Indian cinema encloses several several artforms like Indian classical music, folk music of different regions throughout the country, Indian classical dance, folk dance, and much more. Bollywood, Kollywood and Tollywood forms the largest portion of the Indian film industry and is viewed all over the
Indian Subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
, and is increasingly popular in Australia, UK, United States, New Zealand,
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
,
Gulf countries,
European countries,
East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
and China. The largest film studio complex in the world is
Ramoji Film City located at
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
, India, which opened in 1996 and measures 674 ha (1,666 acres). Comprising 47 sound stages, it has permanent sets ranging from railway stations to temples.
By 1986, India's annual film output had increased from 741 films produced annually to 833 films, making India the world's largest film producer. , Bollywood represents 45% of Indian net box office revenue, while Tamil and Telugu cinemas together represent 36%, and the rest of the regional film industries constitute 21% of Indian cinema. By 2021, Telugu Cinema (Tollywood) has overtaken both Hindi cinema (Bollywood) and Tamil cinema (Kollywood), emerged as the largest film industry in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
in terms of box-office. In 2023, Bollywood again emerged as the largest film industry in India.
Russian Federation
The cinema of Russia, popularly known as Mollywood, refers to the film industry in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, engaged in producing motion pictures in the Russian language. The popular term Mollywood is a portmanteau of "
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
" and "
Hollywood". It began in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, widely developed in the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, and the years following its
dissolution. The Russian film industry would remain internationally recognized. In the 21st century, Russian cinema has become known internationally with films such as ''
Hardcore Henry'' (2015), ''
Leviathan
Leviathan ( ; ; ) is a sea serpent demon noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch. Leviathan is of ...
'' (2014), ''
Night Watch'' (2004) and ''
Brother
A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used ende ...
'' (1997). The
Moscow International Film Festival began in Moscow during 1935. The
Nika Award is the main annual national film award in Russia.
The first films seen in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
were brought in by the
Lumière brothers
Lumière is French for 'light'.
Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to:
Buildings
* Lumière, a building used by the Bibliothèque publique d'information in Paris, France
* Lumiere (skyscraper), a cancelled skyscraper development in Leeds, ...
, who exhibited films in Moscow and
St. Petersburg in May 1896. That same month, Lumière cameraman
Camille Cerf made the first film in Russia, recording the coronation of
Nicholas II at the
Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...
.
Aleksandr Drankov
Alexander Osipovich Drankov (; 1879–1949) was a Russian and Soviet photographer, cameraman, film director, and film producer. He is considered a pioneer of Russian pre-revolutionary cinematography.
Biography
Drankov was born Abram Iosifovich Dr ...
produced the first Russian narrative film ''
Stenka Razin'' (1908), based on events told in a folk song and directed by
Vladimir Romashkov. Among the notable Russian filmmakers of the era were
Aleksandr Khanzhonkov and
Ivan Mozzhukhin, who made ''
Defence of Sevastopol'' in 1912.
Yakov Protazanov made ''
Departure of a Grand Old Man'' (1912), a
biographical film
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...
about
Lev Tolstoy.
Animation pioneer
Ladislas Starevich made the first Russian animated film (and the first
stop motion puppet film with a story) in 1910 – ''
Lucanus Cervus
''Lucanus cervus'', known as the European stag beetle, or the greater stag beetle, is one of the best-known species of stag beetle (family Lucanidae) in Western Europe, and is the eponymous example of the genus. ''L. cervus'' is listed as Near T ...
''. His other stop-motion shorts ''
The Beautiful Leukanida'' (1912) and ''
The Cameraman's Revenge'' (1912), produced for Aleksandr Khanzhonkov, are also among the first animated films. In the following years, Starevich made shorts based on fables such as ''The Grasshopper and the Ant'' (1913), as well as World War I propaganda films..
United Kingdom

The
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
has had a significant film industry for over a century. While film production reached an all-time high in 1936,
the "golden age" of British cinema is usually thought to have occurred in the 1940s, during which the directors
David Lean
Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema. He directed the large-scale epi ...
,
Michael Powell
Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...
, (with
Emeric Pressburger) and
Carol Reed produced their most highly acclaimed work. Many British actors have achieved worldwide fame and critical success, such as
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...
,
Roger Moore,
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...
,
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...
,
Daniel Day-Lewis,
Gary Oldman, and
Kate Winslet. Some of the films with the largest-ever box-office returns have been made in the United Kingdom, including the third- and fourth-
highest-grossing film series (''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' and ''
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
'').
The first moving picture was shot in
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
by
Louis Le Prince in 1888, and the first moving pictures developed on
celluloid film were made in
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is a , historic Listed building#Heritage protection, Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Parks of London, Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington P ...
, in 1889 by British inventor
William Friese Greene, who patented the process in 1890.
Two of the top eight-
highest-grossing films worldwide of all time have some British historical, cultural or creative dimensions: ''
Titanic'' (1997), ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2'' (2011), ''
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2003), and ''
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' (2005). Adding four more ''Harry Potter'' films and one more ''Lord of the Rings'' movie, plus the
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...
version of ''
Alice in Wonderland'' (2010), and more than half of the top twenty most financially successful films had a substantial British dimension.
British influence can also be seen with the
'English Cycle' of Disney animated films, which include ''
Alice in Wonderland'' (1951), ''
Peter Pan'' (1953), ''
One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961), ''
The Sword in the Stone'' (1963), and ''
The Jungle Book'' (1967). Disney first became interested in live-action films as a means of using financial reserves which had built up in Britain, and could not be repatriated owing to exchange controls, by making two films from Scottish and English sources. These were ''
Treasure Island'' (1950) and ''
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men'' (1952), which were both successes at the box office. The studio continued to draw on British source material for its animated films after
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
died in 1967, with the cartoon feature films ''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
'' (1973), ''
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' and ''
The Rescuers
''The Rescuers'' is a 1977 American Animated film, animated adventure film, adventure comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor respectively star as Bernard and B ...
'' (both 1977), one of many Disney to draw on
A. A. Milne's characters.
In the 1970s and 1980s, British studios established a reputation for great special effects in films such as ''
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
'' (1978), ''
Alien'' (1979), and ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
'' (1989). Some of this reputation was founded on the core of talent brought together for the filming of ''
2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) who subsequently worked together on series and feature films for
Gerry Anderson. The Bristol-based
Aardman Animations is known for its stop-motion animation.
In late 1998,
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
launched their
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...
film channel
Film4 – a channel specifically designed to show films. It broadcasts from 11:00 am BST and competes with
pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...
film network
Sky Cinema.
The London-based
visual effects
Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of
a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production.
The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...
company
Framestore, with
Tim Webber the
visual effects supervisor, have worked on the films ''
The Dark Knight'' (2008) and ''
Gravity
In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
'' (2013), with new techniques involved in ''Gravity'' taking three years to complete.
France
France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its significant contributions to the art form and the film-making process itself.
Several important cinematic movements, including the
Nouvelle Vague, began in the country. It is noted for having a particularly strong film industry, due in part to protections afforded by the
French government
The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...
.
French cinema is sometimes intertwined with the cinema of foreign nations. Directors from nations such as
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
(
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...
,
Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski (, 27 June 1941 – 14 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy, ''Three Colours'' ...
, and
Andrzej Żuławski
Andrzej Żuławski (; 22 November 1940 – 17 February 2016) was a Polish film director and writer best known for his 1981 psychological horror film ''Possession (1981 film), Possession''. Żuławski often went against mainstream commercialism in ...
),
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
(
Gaspar Noé and
Edgardo Cozarinsky),
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
(
Alexandre Alexeieff,
Anatole Litvak
Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (10 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), commonly known as Anatole Litvak, was a Russian-American filmmaker.
Born to Jewish parents in Kiev, he began his theatrical training at age 13 in Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, ...
), Austria (
Michael Haneke), and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
(
Géla Babluani,
Otar Iosseliani) are prominent in the ranks of French cinema. Conversely, some French directors have had careers in other countries, such as
Luc Besson
Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French filmmaker. He directed and produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Associated with the '' Cinéma du look'' film movement, he h ...
,
Jacques Tourneur, or
Francis Veber in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
Another element supporting this fact is that
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
has the highest density of cinemas in the world, measured by the number of
movie theater
A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...
s per inhabitant, and that in most "downtown Paris" movie theaters, foreign movies which would be secluded to "art houses" cinemas in other places are shown alongside "mainstream" works. Philippe Binant realized, on 2 February 2000, the first
digital cinema
Digital cinema is the digital technology used within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be shipped to mo ...
projection in Europe, with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...
, in Paris.
Paris also boasts the Cité du cinéma, a major studio north of the city, and Disney Studio, a theme park devoted to the cinema and the third theme park near the city behind Disneyland and Parc Asterix.
In 2015, France saw a record-breaking 300 feature-length films produced. US and UK films only represented 44.9% of total admissions in 2014. This is largely due to the commercial strength of domestic productions, which accounted for 44,5% of admissions in 2014 (35.5% in 2015; and 35.3% in 2016).
In the mid-2000s, the French film industry was described as being "closer to being entirely self-sufficient than any other country in Europe, recovering around 80–90% of their budget in revenues generated from the domestic market". In 2018, French films had an international box office of €237m with 40 million admissions (down 52% from 2017), with Italy being the top foreign market.
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2010, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived.
In a ''
Sight & Sound'' list of the
best films produced in Asia, Japanese works made up eight of the top 12, with ''
Tokyo Story'' (1953) ranked number one. ''Tokyo Story'' also topped the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' directors' poll of
The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time, dethroning ''
Citizen Kane
''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'',
while
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
's ''
Seven Samurai'' (1954) was voted the
greatest foreign-language film of all time in
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's 2018 poll of 209 critics in 43 countries.
Japan has won the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for the
Best Foreign Language Film four times (''
Rashomon'', ''
Gate of Hell'', ''
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto'', and ''
Departures''), more than any other Asian country..
Iran
The
cinema of Iran (
Persian: ''سینمای ایران'') or cinema of Persia refers to the cinema and film industries in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
which produce a variety of commercial films annually. Iranian
art film
An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
s have garnered international fame and now enjoy a global following.
Along with China, Iran has been lauded as one of the best exporters of cinema in the 1990s. Some critics now rank Iran as the world's most important national cinema, artistically, with a significance that invites comparison to
Italian neorealism and similar movements in past decades.
German filmmaker
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...
has praised Iranian cinema as one of the world's most important artistic cinemas.
It is notable, that Iran has won 2
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
and has been nominated 3 times, which is ranked 11th in the world cinema, second in Asia after Japan, and first in the Middle East.
Turkey
The Turkish film market stands out in the pan-European landscape as the only market where
nation
A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...
al films regularly outperform
US films. In 2013, it had 1.2 million number of admissions and 87
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
s were released. Between 2004 and 2014, the estimated 12.9 million admissions generated on non-national European markets only accounted for 7% of total admissions to Turkish films in Europe (including Turkey). This was the third lowest share among the 30 European markets for which such data are available and clearly illustrates the strong dependence of
Turkish films on the domestic market, a feature which is shared by
Polish and Russian films.
In 2014, ''
Kış Uykusu'' (''Winter's Sleep'') won the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
Award for Best Film. In 2013, Turkey still ranked behind the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
in terms of the box office with just over EUR 200 million as Europe's eight largest box office market ahead of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and Switzerland with a clear gap to the top 6 markets all of which registered GBO between EUR 504 million (Spain) up to over EUR 1 billion in France, the
UK, Germany and the
Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. Cinema going is comparatively cheap in Turkey. In 2013 a
cinema ticket cost an average of EUR 4.0 in Turkey, and this was estimated to be the lowest average ticket price – measured in Euro – in Europe, marginally cheaper than in several Central and
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
markets like Croatia, Romania, Lithuania or Bulgaria (subject to exchange rates).
Egypt
A limited number of
silent film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
s were made in Egypt beginning in 1896; 1927's ''
Laila'' was notable as the first full-length feature.
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
's film industry became a regional force with the coming of sound. Between 1930 and 1936, various small studios produced at least 44 feature films. In 1936,
Studio Misr, financed by industrialist
Talaat Harb, emerged as the leading Egyptian equivalent to Hollywood's major studios, a role the company retained for three decades. Of the more than 4,000 short and feature-length films made in
MENA region since 1908, more than three-quarters were
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian films. Egyptian films are typically spoken in the
Egyptian Arabic dialect.
Since 1976, Cairo has held the annual
Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which is accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Association. In 1996, the
Egyptian Media Production City (EMPC) was inaugurated in
6th of October City
6th of October ( ; ) is a city in the Giza Governorate of Egypt. It is a satellite city, located adjacent to Giza, and is part of the Greater Cairo region. south of Cairo, although by 2001, only one of the 29 planned studios was operational. Censorship, formerly an obstacle to freedom of expression, has decreased remarkably by 2012, when the Egyptian cinema had begun to tackle boldly issues ranging from sexual issues to heavy government criticism.
The 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s are generally considered the
golden age of Egyptian cinema. As in the West, films responded to the popular imagination, with most falling into predictable
genres (happy endings being the norm), and many actors making careers out of playing strongly typed parts. In the words of one critic, "If an Egyptian film intended for popular audiences lacked any of these prerequisites, it constituted a betrayal of the unwritten contract with the spectator, the results of which would manifest themselves in the box office."
[Farid, Samir]
"Lights, camera...retrospection"
, '' Al-Ahram Weekly'', 30 December 1999 Since the 1990s, Egypt's cinema has gone in separate directions. Smaller
art film
An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
s attract some international attention but sparse attendance at home. Popular films, often broad comedies such as ''
What A Lie!'', and the extremely profitable works of comedian
Mohamed Saad, battle to hold audiences either drawn to Western films or, increasingly, wary of the perceived immorality of film.
[Farid, Samir]
"An Egyptian Story"
, '' Al-Ahram Weekly'', 23–29 November 2006
Korean Peninsula
The term
cinema of Korea (or Korean cinema) encompasses the motion picture industries of
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, from the late
Joseon dynasty
Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
to
the Korean War to domestic governmental interference. While both countries have relatively robust film industries today, only South Korean films have achieved wide international acclaim. North Korean films tend to portray their communist or revolutionary themes.
South Korean films enjoyed a "Golden age" during the late 1950s and 1960s. By 2005 South Korea had become one of few nations to watch more domestic than imported films in theaters due largely to laws placing limits on the number of foreign films able to be shown per theater per year.
In the theaters, Korean films must be played for 73 days per year since 2006. On cable TV 25% domestic film quota will be reduced to 20% after KOR-US FTA.
The
cinema of South Korea had a total box office gross in the country in 2015 of
₩
The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean Empire won, Korean won.
Appearance
Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike ...
and had 113,000,000 admissions, 52% of the total admissions.
Poland
The history of
Cinema of Poland is almost as long as the history of
cinematography
Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...
, and it has universally recognized achievements, even though Polish films tend to be less commercially available than films from several other European nations.
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the communist government built an
auteur
An (; , ) is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded and personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, thus manifesting the director's unique style or thematic ...
-based national cinema, trained hundreds of new directors, and empowered them to make films. Filmmakers like
Roman Polański,
Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski (, 27 June 1941 – 14 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy, ''Three Colours'' ...
,
Agnieszka Holland,
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...
,
Andrzej Żuławski
Andrzej Żuławski (; 22 November 1940 – 17 February 2016) was a Polish film director and writer best known for his 1981 psychological horror film ''Possession (1981 film), Possession''. Żuławski often went against mainstream commercialism in ...
,
Andrzej Munk, and
Jerzy Skolimowski impacted the development of Polish film-making. In more recent years, the industry has been producer-led with finance being the key to a film being made, and with many independent filmmakers of all genres, Polish productions tend to be more inspired by
American film.
The
Polish Film School was under the heavy influence of
Italian neorealists. It took advantage of the liberal changes in Poland after 1956
Polish October to portray the complexity of Polish history during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and German occupation. Among the most important topics were the generation of former
Home Army
The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
soldiers and their role in post-war Poland and the national tragedies like the
German concentration camps and the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
. The political changes allowed the group to speak more openly about the recent history of Poland. However, the rule of
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
was still strong when it came to history after 1945 and there were very few films on contemporary events. This marked the major difference between the members of the Polish Film School and Italian neorealists.
The Polish Film School was the first to underline the
national character of Poles and one of the first artistic movements in
Central Europe
Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
to openly oppose the official guidelines of
Socialist realism. The members of the movement tend to underline the role of the individual as opposed to collectivity. There were two trends within the movement: young directors such as
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...
generally studied the idea of heroism, while another group (the most notable being
Andrzej Munk) analyzed the Polish character via irony, humor, and dissection of national myths.
Indonesia
The biggest film studio in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
was soft opened on 5 November 2011 on 10 hectares of land in Nongsa,
Batam Island
Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a kecamatan, district within this city), is the largest List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administra ...
, Indonesia.
Infinite Frameworks (IFW) is a
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
-based company (close to Batam Island) which is owned by a consortium, 90 percent of which is held by Indonesian businessman and film producer Mike Wiluan. In 2010–2011, due to the substantial increase in value-added tax applied to foreign films, cinemas no longer had access to many foreign films, including Oscar-winning films. Foreign films include major box offices from the West and other major film producers of the world. This caused a massive ripple effect on the country's economy. It is assumed that this increased the purchase of unlicensed DVDs. However, even copyright-violating DVDs took longer to obtain. The minimum cost to view a foreign film not screened locally was 1 million Rupiah. This was equivalent to US$100, as it includes a plane ticket to Singapore.
Pakistan
The
cinema of Pakistan, or simply Pakistani cinema (), refers to
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
's film industry. Most of the feature films shot in Pakistan are in
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
, the national language, but may also include films in English, the official language, and regional languages such as
Punjabi,
Pashto
Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
,
Balochi, and
Sindhi.
Lahore
Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
has been described as the epicenter of Pakistani cinema, giving rise to the term "
Lollywood" as a portmanteau of Lahore and Hollywood.
Before the separation of Bangladesh, Pakistan had three main film production centers:
Lahore
Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
,
Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
and
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
. The regime of
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...
,
VCRs,
film piracy, the introduction of entertainment taxes, strict laws based upon ultra-conservative jurisprudence, was an obstacle to the industry's growth.
Once thriving, the cinema in Pakistan had a sudden collapse in the 1980s and by the 2000s "an industry that once produced an average of 80 films annually was now struggling to even churn out few movies." However, the boom in the Television Industry in Karachi which gave rise to bigger privately owned media houses led to a revival of the Pakistan Film Industry in the early 2010s.
Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
, now the biggest production center of the Film Industry in Pakistan produces Urdu, English, and Sindhi language Pakistani movies. Lahore is the second big film producer now (mostly Punjabi movies) followed by Peshawar where mostly Pashto films are produced. Films are also being produced on a very small scale from Islamabad (Urdu and English movies) and Quetta (Balochi movies). Pakistani films are gaining market in the local circuit and international markets like Gulf countries, UK-Europe, US-North America, and Far-East. Many Pakistani movies made their ways to Oscars' foreign language film category i.e.
The Day Shall Dawn (1959), The Veil (Ghoonghat) (1963),
Zinda Bhaag (2013),
Dukhtar (2014), Moor (2015), Mah-e-Mir (2016), Saawan (2017), Cake (2018), Lal Kabootar (2019). Two Pakistani documentary films won the Oscars' for the best documentary film, these are, Saving Face (2012) and A Girl in the River (2016).
Pakistani movies especially Urdu movies revolve around family drama, romance, love stories, comedy, thriller, social matters, and political issues. In the contemporary era some Pakistani films have gained international acclaim, these include,
Khuda Kay Liye (In the name of God),
Bol, Verna, Zinda Bhaag, Load-Wedding,
Wrong No., Cake,
Teefa in Trouble, Lal Kabootar, Mah-e-Meer, Moor,
The Legend of Maula Jatt.
Punjabi cinema is mostly themed on romance, family drama, and action while Pashto cinema revolves around action and tribal feuds.
Major Film Awards include
Lux Style Awards, ARY Film Awards, Nigar Awards and National Film Awards.
Philippines
Cinema of the Philippines began with the introduction of the first
moving picture
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...
s to the country on August 31, 1897, at the ''Salón de Pertierra'' in
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
. The following year, local scenes were shot on film for the first time by a Spaniard, Antonio Ramos, using the
Lumiere Cinematograph
Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the ...
. While most early
filmmakers and
producers in the country were mostly wealthy enterprising foreigners and
expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country.
The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...
s, on September 12, 1919, ''Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden)'', a movie based on a popular musical play, was the first movie made and shown by Filipino filmmaker
José Nepomuceno. Dubbed the "Father of Philippine Cinema", his work marked the start of cinema as an art form in the Philippines.
Israel
Films have been made in Israel since before independence in 1948.
[Editing out a frame of history](_blank)
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
The industry is relatively small economically but Israeli films have been nominated for more
Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film than any other country in the Middle East. The government is attempting to attract foreign companies to film in Israel by offering subsidies for production costs.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
is a filmmaking hub for the Chinese-speaking world (including the worldwide
diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...
) and East Asia in general. For decades it was the third-largest motion picture industry in the world (after India and the US) and the second-largest exporter of films. Despite an industry crisis starting in the mid-1990s and Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997 Hong Kong film has retained much of its distinctive identity and continues to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage. Unlike many film industries, Hong Kong has enjoyed little to no direct government support, through either subsidies or import quotas. It has always been a thoroughly commercial cinema, concentrating on crowd-pleasing
genres, like comedy and action, and heavily reliant on formulas, sequels, and remakes. Typically of commercial cinemas, its heart is a highly developed
star system
A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravity, gravitational attraction. It may sometimes be used to refer to a single star. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally calle ...
, which in this case also features substantial overlap with the
pop music industry
Trinidad and Tobago
The
Trinidad and Tobago Film Company is the national agency that was established in 2006 to further the development of the film industry. Trinidad and Tobago puts on several film festivals which are organized by different committees and organizations. These include the Secondary Schools Short Film Festival and Smartphone Film Festival organized by Trinidad and Tobago Film Company. There is also an annual
Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival which runs for two weeks in the latter half of September.
Trinidad and Tobago's film sector began emerging in the late 1950s to early 1960s and by the late 1970s, there were a handful of local productions, both feature film and television.
The first full-length feature film to be produced in
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
was ''
The Right and the Wrong'' (1970) by Indian director/writer/producer, Harbance Kumar. The screenplay was written by the Trinidadian playwright, Freddie Kissoon.
The rest of the 20th century saw a couple more feature films being made in the country, with ''
Bim
Building information modeling (BIM) is an approach involving the generation and management of digital representations of the physical and functional characteristics of buildings or other physical assets and facilities. BIM is supported by vario ...
'' (1974), being singled out by Bruce Paddington as "one of the most important films to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago ... and one of the classics of Caribbean cinema."
It was one of the first films to feature an almost entirely Trinidadian cast and crew.
There was a rise in Trinidadian film production in the 2000s. Films such as ''Ivan the Terrible'' (2004), ''
SistaGod'' (2006), ''I'm Santana: The Movie'' (2012), and ''God Loves the Fighter'' (2013) were released both locally and internationally. ''SistaGod'' had its world premiere at the
2006 Toronto International Film Festival.
Nepal
Nepali film does not have a very long film history, but the industry has its place in the cultural heritage of the country. It is often referred to as 'Nepali Chalchitra' (which translates to "Nepali films" in English). The terms Kollywood and Kallywood are also used, as a portmanteau of "Kathmandu" and "Hollywood"; "Kollywood" however is more frequently used to refer to Tamil cinema.
Chhakka Panja has been considered the highest-grossing film of all time in Nepali film industry and Kohinoor the second highest. The Nepali films
The Black Hen (2015) and
Kagbeni (2006) received international acclaim. The Nepali feature film
White Sun (Seto Surya) received the Best Film award at the 27th
Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) in 2016.
Sri Lanka
The
Sri Lankan film industry is a relatively young industry that began in 1947 with the film ''
Kadawunu Poronduwa'' and has seen growth and development, particularly with the establishment of the State Film Corporation in 1971.
Sri Lankan films are usually made in
Sinhala and
Tamil, the dominant languages of the country.
Lester James Peries
Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකාභිමාන්ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, ...
, often considered the "father" of Sri Lankan cinema, directed influential films like ''
Rekava
''Rekava'' (Sinhala language, Sinhala for "Line of Destiny") is a 1956 film based on village life and mythical beliefs in Sri Lanka (then Dominion of Ceylon, Ceylon). It is the first Sinhala film fully shot in Ceylon and was shot outdoors in the ...
'' (1956) and ''
The God King'' (1974).
Vimukthi Jayasundara's ''
Sulanga Enu Pinisa'' won the Camera d'Or for best first film at the 2005
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
.
The directors
Asoka Handagama and
Prasanna Vithanage, have won international awards. Handagama's films ''
Asandhimitta'' and ''
Alborada'' and Vithanage's films ''
Gaadi'' and ''
Paradise
In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
'' were critically acclaimed and selected for international film festivals.
In recent years, high-budget films like ''
Aloko Udapadi'', ''
Aba'' and ''
Maharaja Gemunu'' based on Sinhalese epic historical stories have gained huge success. Furthermore, following the drastic impact on the film industry by the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, ''
Adaraneeya Prarthana'' has emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of 2022, and ''
Gajaman'' is the highest-grossing Sri Lankan film of 2023.
Chanaka Perera's film ''Gajaman'' is the first three-dimensional (3D) animation movie in Sri Lanka using motion capture technology.
Sri Lankan director Ilango Ram's film ''
Tentigo'' is the first Sri Lankan film to be remade into other languages including
Spanish,
Italian,
English,
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
,
Telugu, and
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
, and
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
in the future. After gaining positive reviews from critics in multiple film festivals, the film won the special jury award at the
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2023 and was screened at the
Glasgow Film Festival
The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. It is now considered one of the top film festivals ...
and Mostra in 2024. It got selected at the
2nd Eikhoigi Imphal International Film Festival 2025 under the International Competition: Fiction section
International movies shot in Sri Lanka:
Sri Lanka has been a location for international films, including ''
The Bridge on the River Kwai''.
History

Les frères Lumière released the first projection with the Cinematograph, in Paris on 28 December 1895. The French film industry in the late 19th century and early 20th century was the world's most important. Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the cinématographe and their L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat in Paris in 1895 is considered by many historians as the official birth of cinematography.
The first
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
to be made was the 1906 Australian silent ''
The Story of the Kelly Gang'', an account of the notorious gang led by
Ned Kelly that was directed and produced by the
Melburnians Dan Barry and
Charles Tait. It ran, continuously, for eighty minutes.
In the early 1910s, the film industry had fully emerged with D.W. Griffith's ''
The Birth of a Nation
''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...
''. Also in the early 1900s motion picture production companies from New York and New Jersey started moving to California because of the good weather and longer days. Although electric lights existed at that time, none were powerful enough to adequately expose film; the best source of illumination for movie production was natural sunlight. Besides the moderate, dry climate, they were also drawn to the state because of its open spaces and wide variety of natural scenery.
Introduction of film industry
In 1900,
Charles Pathé
Charles Morand Pathé (; 26 December 1863 – 25 December 1957) was a pioneer of the French film and recording industries. As the founder of Pathé, Pathé Frères, its roots lie in 1896 Paris, France, when Pathé and his brothers pioneered ...
began film production under the Pathé-Frères brand, with
Ferdinand Zecca hired to make the films. By 1905, Pathé was the largest film company in the world, a position it retained until World War I.
Léon Gaumont began film production in 1896, supervised by
Alice Guy.
Besides American Mutoscope, there were also numerous smaller producers in the United States, and some of them established a long-term presence in the new century.
American Vitagraph, one of these minor producers, built studios in Brooklyn, and expanded its operations in 1905.
The first successful permanent theatre showing only films was "The Nickelodeon", which was opened in Pittsburgh in 1905. By then, there were enough films several minutes long available to fill a program running for at least half an hour, and which could be changed weekly when the local audience became bored with it. Other exhibitors in the United States quickly followed suit, and within two years, there were 8,000 of these
nickelodeons in operation across the United States. The American experience led to a worldwide boom in the production and exhibition of films from 1906 onwards.
Movie theater
A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...
s became popular entertainment venues and social hubs in the early 20th century, much like
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
s and other theaters.

By 1907, purpose-built cinemas for motion pictures were being opened across the United States, Britain, and France. The films were often shown with the accompaniment of music provided by a pianist, though there could be more musicians. There were also very few larger cinemas in some of the biggest cities. Initially, the majority of films in the programs were
Pathé films, but this changed fairly quickly as the American companies cranked up production. The program was made up of just a few films, and the show lasted around 30 minutes. The reel of film, of maximum length , which usually contained one individual film, became the standard unit of film production and exhibition in this period. The program was changed twice or more a week but went up to five changes of program a week after a couple of years. In general, cinemas were set up in the established entertainment districts of the cities. In 1907, Pathé began renting their films to cinemas through film exchanges rather than selling the films outright.
The litigation over patents between all the major American film-making companies had continued, and at the end of 1908, they decided to pool their patents and form a trust to use them to control the American film business. The companies concerned were Pathé, Edison, Biograph, Vitagraph, Lubin, Selig, Essanay, Kalem, and the Kleine Optical Company, a major importer of European films. The George Eastman company, the only manufacturer of film stock in the United States, was also part of the combine, which was called the
Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC), and Eastman Kodak agreed to only supply the members with film stock. License fees for distributing and projecting films were extracted from all distributors and exhibitors. The producing companies that were part of the trust were allocated production quotas (two reels, i.e. films, a week for the biggest ones, one reel a week for the smaller ones), which were supposed to be enough to fill the programs of the licensed exhibitors. But the market was bigger than that, for although 6,000 exhibitors signed with the MPPC, about 2,000 others did not. A minority of the exchanges (i.e. distributors) stayed outside the MPPC, and in 1909 these independent exchanges immediately began to fund new film-producing companies. By 1911 there were enough independent and foreign films available to programme all the shows of the independent exhibitors, and in 1912 the independents had nearly half of the market. The MPPC had effectively been defeated in its plan to control the whole United States market, and the government antitrust action, which only now started against the MPPC, was not necessary to defeat it.
In the early 20th century, before
Hollywood, the United States motion picture industry was mainly based in
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades.
As of the 2020 Uni ...
across the Hudson River from New York City. In need of a winter headquarters, moviemakers were attracted to
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
due to its warm climate, exotic locations, excellent rail access, and cheaper labor, earning the city the title of "The Winter Film Capital of the World".
New York-based
Kalem Studios was the first to open a permanent studio in Jacksonville in 1908. over the next decade, more than 30 silent film companies established studios in town, including
Metro Pictures
Metro Pictures Corporation was a Film, motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at le ...
(later
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
),
Edison Studios, Majestic Films, King-Bee Film Company,
Vim Comedy Company,
Norman Studios,
Gaumont Studios and the
Lubin Manufacturing Company. The first motion picture made in
Technicolor
Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...
and the first feature-length color movie produced in the United States,
The Gulf Between, was also filmed on location in Jacksonville in 1917.
Jacksonville was especially important to the
African American film industry. One notable individual in this regard is the European American producer
Richard Norman, who created a string of films starring black actors in the vein of
Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and c ...
and the
Lincoln Motion Picture Company.
In contrast to the degrading parts offered in certain white films such as ''
The Birth of a Nation
''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...
'', Norman and his contemporaries sought to create positive stories featuring African Americans in what he termed "splendidly assuming different roles".
Jacksonville's mostly conservative residents, however, objected to the hallmarks of the early movie industry, such as car chases in the streets, simulated bank robberies and fire alarms in public places, and even the occasional riot. In 1917, conservative Democrat
John W. Martin was elected mayor on the platform of taming the city's movie industry.
By that time, southern
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
was emerging as the major movie production center, thanks in large part to the move of film pioneers like
William Selig and
D.W. Griffith to the area. These factors quickly sealed the demise of Jacksonville as a major film destination.
Another factor for the industry's move west was that up until 1913, most American film production was still carried out around New York, but due to the monopoly of
Thomas A. Edison, Inc.'s film patents and its litigious attempts to preserve it, many filmmakers moved to Southern California, starting with
Selig in 1909. The sunshine and scenery was important for the production of Westerns, which came to form a major American film genre with the first cowboy stars,
G.M. Anderson ("Broncho Billy") and
Tom Mix. Selig pioneered the use of (fairly) wild animals from a zoo for a series of exotic adventures, with the actors being menaced or saved by the animals.
Kalem Company sent film crews to places in America and abroad to film stories in the actual places they were supposed to have happened. Kalem also pioneered the female action heroine from 1912, with
Ruth Roland playing starring roles in their Westerns.
In France, Pathé retained its dominant position, followed still by Gaumont, and then other new companies that appeared to cater to the film boom. A film company with a different approach was Film d'Art. Film d'Art was set up at the beginning of 1908 to make films of a serious artistic nature. Their declared program was to make films using only the best dramatists, artists, and actors.
The first of these was ''
L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise'' (''The Assassination of the Duc de Guise''), a historical subject set in the court of
Henri III. This film used leading actors from the
Comédie-Française and had a special accompanying score written by
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...
. The other French majors followed suit, and this wave gave rise to the English-language description of films with artistic pretensions aimed at a sophisticated audience as
"art films". By 1910, the French film companies were starting to make films as long as two, or even three reels, though most were still one reel long. This trend was followed in Italy, Denmark, and Sweden.
In Britain, the
Cinematograph Act 1909 was the first
primary legislation to specifically regulate the film industry.
Film exhibitions often took place in temporary venues and the use of highly flammable
cellulose nitrate for film, combined with
limelight illumination, created a significant fire hazard. The Act specified a strict building code which required, amongst other things, that the projector be enclosed within a fire resisting enclosure.

The
Babelsberg Studio near
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in Germany was the first large-scale film studio in the world, founded in 1912, and the forerunner to
Hollywood with its several establishments of large studios in the early 20th century.
Hollywood
The first
movie studio in Hollywood area,
Nestor Studios, was founded in 1911 by
Al Christie
Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs.
Early life
Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, ...
for
David Horsley. Other
East Coast studios had already moved production to Los Angeles. Over time, Hollywood came to be so strongly associated with the film industry that the word "Hollywood" is now used colloquially to refer to the entire American film industry.
In 1913
Cecil B. DeMille, in association with
Jesse Lasky
Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 – January 13, 1958) was an American pioneer Film producer, motion picture producer who was a key founder of what was to become Paramount Pictures, and father of screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky Jr.
Early life
...
, leased a barn with studio facilities in Hollywood where ''
The Squaw Man'' (1914) was made. It is now the location of the
Hollywood Heritage Museum.
The
Charlie Chaplin Studios were built in 1917. The site was also used by Kling Studios, for the
'' Superman'' TV series;
Red Skelton, who used the
sound stage
A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a large, soundproof structure, building or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or te ...
s for his
CBS TV
variety show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...
; and CBS, which filmed the TV series ''
Perry Mason'' there. From 1967 to 1999 it was the home of
Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...
's
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...
and Tijuana Brass Enterprises. In 1969 The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board named it a historical cultural monument. In 2000 it became the home of the
Jim Henson Company, home of the
Muppets.
The noted
Hollywood Sign originally read "Hollywoodland". It was erected in 1923 to advertise a new housing development in the hills above Hollywood. In 1949 the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce stepped in and removed the last four letters and repaired the others. It is a registered trademark and cannot be used without the permission of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
The first
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
presentation ceremony took place on 16 May 1929.
The period between the years 1927 (the effective end of the silent era) to 1948 is considered the age of the "Hollywood studio system", or the ''
Golden Age of Hollywood
Golden means made of, or relating to gold.
Golden may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall
*Golden Cap, Dorset
*Golden Square, Soho, London
*Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome, Stroud#Golden Val ...
''. In a
landmark 1948 court decision, the Supreme Court ruled that movie studios could not own theaters and play only the movies of their studio and
movie stars; thus an era of Hollywood history ended.
Hindi cinema
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
is the
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
-language film industry based in
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
(formerly known as
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
),
Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of
Indian cinema
The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...
; however, it is only a part of the total
Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing films in multiple languages. Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest centers of film production in the world.
Bollywood is formally referred to as Hindi cinema.
Linguistically, Bollywood films tend to use vernacular
Hindustani, mutually intelligible to self-identified speakers of both
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
and
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
,
while modern Bollywood films also increasingly incorporate elements of
Hinglish.
''The Wrestlers'' (1899) and ''The Man and His Monkeys'' (1899), directed and produced by Harischandra Sakharam Bhatawdekar (
H. S. Bhatavdekar), were the first two films made by Indian filmmakers, which were both short films. He was also the first Indian filmmaker to direct and produce the first documentary and news relnews-relateditled ''The Landing of Sir M.M. Bhownuggree''.
The 1930s and 1940s were tumultuous times: India was buffeted by the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, World War II, the
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
, and the violence of the
Partition. Most Bollywood films were unabashedly
escapist, but several filmmakers tackled tough social issues or used the struggle for Indian independence as a backdrop for their plots.
In 1937
Ardeshir Irani, of ''
Alam Ara'' fame, made the first colour film in Hindi, ''
Kisan Kanya''. The next year, he made another color film, a version of ''Mother India''.
Following
India's independence, the period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s is regarded by film historians as the "Golden Age" of Hindi cinema. Defining key figures during this time included
Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor (; born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influen ...
,
Guru Dutt,
Mehboob Khan
Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan (9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 May 1964) was a pr ...
, and
Dilip Kumar.
[Before Brando, There Was Dilip Kumar](_blank)
, The Quint, 11 December 2015
The 1970s was when the name "Bollywood" was coined,
and when the quintessential conventions of commercial Bollywood films were established.
Key to this was the emergence of the
masala film genre, which combines elements of multiple genres (
action,
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
,
romance,
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
,
melodrama
A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...
,
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
). The masala film was pioneered in the early 1970s by filmmaker
Nasir Hussain, along with screenwriter duo
Salim–Javed, pioneering the Bollywood
blockbuster format.
Tollywood is the Bengali language Film Industry of India. Started by Royal Bioscope Company in 1898 by Hiralal Sen, along with Matilal Sen, Deboki Lal Sen, and Bholanath Gupta. Combining live theater performances of actors, the Bengali industry was notable for using sound as an important part of the drama in its Bioscope format whose cinematic language was extremely different from Western silent films. This was followed by Jamshedji Framji Madan of the Elphinstone Bioscope Company who also controlled Madan Theatre Company. J J Madan became managing director of Madan Theatres after the death of his father in 1923 and Madan Theatres reached a peak in the late 1920s when it owned 127 theaters and controlled half of the country's box office. Madan Theatres produced several popular and landmark films till 1937, parallel to works of '20s Bengali stars like Dhirendra Nath Ganguly who started the Indo-British Film Co. – the first Bengali-owned production company in 1918. The rise of the industry followed in the 1930s to 1940s when a diversity of films were made. Many prints were destroyed by fire. The prints and records of films from 1937 to 1947 films were majorly destroyed but this period in Bengal served as the age of political films in India which was supremely influential for the struggle for Indian Independence. After 1947, The industry saw a new era of creative studio-system collaborators who made films under the name of Agradoot. This saw a renaissance of commercial films and musicals where stars like Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen mesmerized the audience with their captivating screen presence and subdued performances. Ritwick Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha, Mrinal Sen, and Rituparno Ghosh were the other notable directors whose works influenced world cinema to an incomparable degree. The name of the industry was coined after the place Tollygunge, which also served as a cheeky tribute to Hollywood.
Cairo
The cinema of
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
refers to the flourishing film industry based in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
which is known to be the Hollywood of the
MENA region. In 1896, a limited number of
silent film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
s was made in Egypt beginning in 1896; 1927's ''
Laila'' was notable as the first full-length feature.
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
's film industry became a regional force with the coming of sound. Between 1930 and 1936, various small studios produced at least 44 feature films. In 1936,
Studio Misr, financed by industrialist
Talaat Harb, emerged as the leading Egyptian equivalent to Hollywood's major studios, a role the company retained for three decades.
Historians disagree in determining the beginning of cinema in Egypt. Some say in 1896 when the first film was watched in Egypt, while others date the beginning from 20 June 1907 with a short documentary film about the visit of Khedive
Abbas Hilmi II to the Institute of Mursi Abul-Abbas in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
. In 1917, the director
Mohammed Karim established a production company in Alexandria. The company produced two films: ''Dead Flowers'' and ''Honor the Bedouin'', which were shown in the city of Alexandria in early 1918.
Since 1976, the capital has held the annual
Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the
International Federation of Film Producers Associations.
[Cairo Film Festival information](_blank)
. There is also another 12 festivals. Of the more than 4,000 short and feature-length films made in
MENA region since 1908, more than three-quarters were
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian films.
Egyptian films are typically spoken in the
Egyptian Arabic dialect. Since then, more than 4,000 films have been produced in Egypt, three-quarters of the total Arab production. Historian
Samir Kassir notes (2004) that
Misr Studios in particular, "despite their ups and downs, were to make Cairo the third capital of the world's film industry, after Hollywood and Bombay but ahead of Italy's Cinecittà." Egypt is the most productive country in the Middle East in the field of film production, and the one with the most developed media system.
Nollywood
Nollywood is a
sobriquet
A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...
that originally referred to the
Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''.
Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject of several controversies.
The origin of the term "Nollywood" remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in ''
the New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', where it was used to describe
Nigerian cinema.
Charles Igwe noted that
Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for ''the New York Times''. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. of the words "Nigeria" and "
Hollywood", the American major film hub.
The definition of which films are considered Nollywood has always been a subject of debate. Alex Eyengho defined Nollywood as "the totality of activities taking place in the Nigerian film industry, be it in English,
Yoruba,
Hausa,
Igbo,
Itsekiri,
Edo,
Efik
The Efik are an ethnic group located primarily in southern Nigeria, and western Cameroon. Within Nigeria, the Efik can be found in the present-day Cross River State and Akwa Ibom state. The Efik speak the Efik language which is a member of the ...
,
Ijaw,
Urhobo or any other of the
over 300 Nigerian languages". He further stated that "the historical trajectory of Nollywood started since the
pre and
post independent Nigeria, with the
theatrical
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communic ...
(stage) and cinematic (
celluloid
Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common present-day ...
) efforts of the likes of Chief
Hubert Ogunde, Chief Amata,
Baba Sala,
Ade Love, Eddie Ugbomah and a few others".
The Influence of the Nigerian movie industry often referred to informally as
Nollywood has influenced all African countries.
By the end of 2013, the film industry reportedly hit a record-breaking revenue of ₦1.72 trillion (US$4.1 billion). As of 2014, the industry was worth ₦853.9 billion (US$5.1 billion), making it the third most valuable film industry in the world behind the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It made up about 1.4% of Nigeria's
GDP; this was attributed to the increase in the number of quality films produced and more formal distribution methods.
Economics
The profitability of a
film studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...
is crucially dependent on picking the right film projects and involving the right management and creative teams (cast, direction, visual design, score, photography, costume, set design, editing, and many additional specialties), but it also depends heavily on choosing the right scale and approach to
film promotion
Film promotion is the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution. Sometimes this is called the press junket or film junket. Film promotion generally include ...
, control over receipts through technologies such as
digital rights management
Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures, such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM ...
(DRM),
sophisticated accounting practices, and management of
ancillary revenue streams; in the extreme, for a major
media franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, o ...
centered on film, the film might itself be only one large component of many large contributions to total franchise revenue.
The film industry is a brutally competitive
winner-take-all market driven by wildly fluctuating "
nonlinear processes".
Box office revenue is highly concentrated in a small number of very successful films, and film industry market share is also highly concentrated in the film studios lucky enough to make such films.
But the market is "extremely volatile" and it is impossible to predict in advance who will become the market winner at any given moment "or how long their domination will last".
The dominant films and film studios "change places dramatically and often".
Statistics
Countries with the largest number of film productions
The following is a list of the top countries by the number of feature films produced.
Largest markets by box office revenue
The following countries are the largest box office markets in terms of the gross box office revenue, according to the THEME Report 2022 by the
MPA (Motion Picture Association).
Largest markets by number of box office admissions
The following countries are the largest box office markets in terms of the number of tickets sold in 2019.
Criticism
Censorship
Economic censorship happens when a company, industry, or country takes steps to ensure profitability, usually by
self-censoring content to please the group wielding their economic influence. That group can be political such as the boycott of individuals or the banning or taxing by governments of certain products. This tool tends to have a broader reach beyond the borders of a government than pure political censorship. Examples include Hollywood
self-censoring any negative depictions of Nazis for most of the 1930s to maintain access to German audiences and avoid upsetting anti-semites at home, or major studios
self-censoring any negative depictions of China or its ruling party after 1997 to maintain access to Chinese audiences.
[''Red Carpet: Hollywood: ]China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
pr, and the Battle for Global Supremacy.'' Erich Schwartzel. 2022. .
Covert advertising
Native advertising
Native advertising, also called sponsored content, partner content, and branded journalism, is a type of paid advertising that appears in the style and format of the content near the advertisement's placement. It manifests as a post, image, vide ...
is information designed to persuade in more subtle ways than classic
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
. A modern example common in the United States is
copaganda, in which TV shows display unrealistically flattering portrayals of law enforcement, in part to borrow equipment and get their assistance in blocking off streets to more easily film on location. Other
reputation laundering accusations have been leveled in the entertainment industry, including the burnishing the image of Mafia's Godfathers.
Product placement
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of t ...
also has been a point of criticism, with the tobacco industry promoting smoking on screen. The
Centers for Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...
cites that 51% of teen smokers would not start smoking if films with smoking were automatically given an 'R' rating, which would save one million lives.
See also
*
List of cinema of the world
*
List of entertainment industry dynasties
*
Independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...
*
Outline of film
*
Television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
Footnotes
Bibliography
* Allen J. Scott (2005) ''On Hollywood: The Place The Industry'', Princeton University Press
* Robertson, Patrick (1988) ''The Guinness Book of Movie Facts & Feats''. London: Guinness Publishing Limited
* Arnab Jan Deka (27 October 1996) ''Fathers of Indian Cinema Bhatawdekar and Torney'', Dainik Asam
* Sanjit Narwekar (1995) ''Marathi Cinema : In Retrospect'', Maharashtra Film, Stage & Cultural Development Corporation Ltd
* Firoze Rangoonwalla (1979) ''A Pictorial History of Indian Cinema'', The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited
* Barkin, Jordan. 25 April 2021. "When you enjoy Oscar Night, America Wins". ''USA Today''.
External links
*
{{Authority control
Economics of the arts and literature
Industries (economics)