Nollywood is the name for Nigeria’s film industry, and its modern era is usually dated to 1992 and a straight-to-video drama called Living in Bondage. Today you can find its films in Nigerian cinemas, on Netflix and, more and more, free on YouTube. This guide covers how it started, how big it is, where to watch and five films to begin with.
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What Nollywood Is
Nollywood is Nigeria’s film industry, which grew out of cheap home video rather than cinema. New Lines Magazine calls Living in Bondage, directed by Chris Obi Rapu and released in 1992, “the first Nigerian home video” and the film “considered the genesis of Nigeria’s film industry, generally referred to as Nollywood.”
The same essay notes that after its success “a deluge of horror films followed”, and that video cost far less than celluloid at a time when Nigeria’s economy was in crisis. That low cost is a big part of why so many titles could be made so quickly.
How Big Nollywood Is
By number of films, Nollywood was the world’s second-largest producer in the last official count. A survey by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, reported by UN News in May 2009, found that Nigeria made 872 productions in 2006, all on video. India made 1,091 feature films that year and the United States 485 major films.
The same report said Nigeria then had “virtually no formal cinemas”, with about 99 per cent of screenings in informal settings such as home theatres. Treat the 2006 figure as a sense of scale, not a current total.
Cinemas matter far more now. Funke Akindele’s A Tribe Called Judah passed ₦1 billion at the Nigerian box office within three weeks of its December 2023 release, and OkayAfrica reported that she directed the three highest-grossing Nollywood films at that time.
NPR reported in June 2026 that the cinema release Behind The Scenes earned more than $1 million in four weeks.
Where to Stream Nollywood Films
Netflix and YouTube are the easiest places to start, and Nigerian cinemas show the big new releases first. The table sums up the main options.
| Where | What you’ll find | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix | A Nollywood Movies & TV category, plus originals such as Lionheart | Catalogues differ by country, so search the title in your own app |
| YouTube | Full-length films posted by producers and actors | Free with ads; NPR reported one romance passing 30 million views |
| Nigerian cinemas | New releases such as A Tribe Called Judah | The two most recent record-breakers both opened in December |
| Prime Video | Check the app in your country | Amazon stopped funding new African originals in 2024 |
Netflix
Netflix’s first Nigerian original film arrived in 2018. On 8 September that year it bought worldwide rights to Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart, calling it “the first Netflix original film from Nigeria”.
YouTube
YouTube has become a main release route for many Nigerian filmmakers. In June 2026 NPR reported that the romantic drama Love In Every Word had passed 30 million views there, and that a YouTube film costing 6 to 7 million naira (about $20,000) can earn around $30,000.
Prime Video
Amazon scaled back Prime Video in Africa in January 2024 and said it would no longer fund local original content there, according to Rest of World. Don’t count on it for new Nollywood originals.
Five Films to Start With
These five cover the home-video start, the Netflix era and the recent box-office boom. Years are release years.
Living in Bondage (1992)
This is the film usually credited with starting Nollywood (New Lines Magazine). Watch it as history: it was shot on video for the home market, and a wave of horror films followed its success.
Lionheart (2018)
Genevieve Nnaji directed and starred in Lionheart, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2018 (Netflix). It follows a daughter who has to work with her uncle to save her father’s struggling bus company, with Nkem Owoh, Pete Edochie and Onyeka Onwenu in the cast (Variety). It became Nigeria’s first submission for the Oscar for best international feature.
The Academy then disqualified it because the category needs a mostly non-English dialogue track, and the film has just under 12 minutes in Igbo (CNN).
King of Boys (2018)
Kemi Adetiba’s crime drama opened in Nigerian cinemas on 26 October 2018, according to The Guardian Nigeria. Sola Sobowale plays Alhaja Eniola Salami, a businesswoman whose political plans clash with her underworld past.
If you like it, the story continues in the Netflix limited series King of Boys: The Return of the King (2021).
Aníkúlápó (2022)
Kunle Afolayan’s epic is “rooted in rich Yoruba folklore”, and its title means “the one who carries death in his pocket”, as Premium Times explains. The same review calls it one of Netflix’s most successful non-English titles, and it later led to a series.
A Tribe Called Judah (2023)
Funke Akindele’s comedy-drama follows “a single mom with five children from five different men” (OkayAfrica). It reached ₦1 billion at the box office in three weeks. The earlier record holder, released in December 2022, took 17 weeks to make ₦668,423,056.
Tips for Your First Few Films
- Turn on subtitles where you need them. Films such as Aníkúlápó draw on Yoruba stories, and Lionheart has a section in Igbo.
- Search by title, not by category. Netflix catalogues change by country and over time.
- On YouTube, watch films from the producer’s or actor’s own channel, not re-uploads by strangers.
- Start with a recent comedy if old video picture quality puts you off, then go back to Living in Bondage.
Sources
- How Pentecostal Preachers and Satanic Panic Helped Launch Nollywood (New Lines Magazine)
- Nigeria surpasses Hollywood as world’s second largest film producer (UN News)
- The Record-Breaking Box Office Success of A Tribe Called Judah (OkayAfrica)
- Nollywood’s new screen: Nigerian filmmakers skip cinemas for YouTube (NPR, via Connecticut Public)
- Nollywood Movies & TV (Netflix)
- Netflix Acquires Worldwide Rights to Lionheart (Netflix)
- Toronto: Netflix Buys Nigerian Comedy Movie Lionheart (Variety)
- The Academy disqualifies Lionheart, Nigeria’s first-ever entry for best international film (CNN, via KVIA)
- Kemi Adetiba’s Gripping New Film, King Of Boys, Set To Hit Cinemas Friday 26 October (The Guardian Nigeria)
- King of Boys: The Return of the King (Netflix)
- Movie review: Aníkúlápó: The Ghoul Awakens (Premium Times)
- Amazon Prime Video’s Africa layoffs (Rest of World)
