Does Ethiopia have a film industry?

The Ethiopian film industry dates back to the 1940s when the first Ethiopian films were produced. However, there was a long period of decline and stagnation for decades. The first color film was produced in Ethiopia only in 1981, nearly 40 years after the first black and white films. The cinema of Ethiopia and the film industry in general is a relatively recent phenomenon in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian film industry is growing, but faces many problems that have prevented it from fully flourishing. After a free market policy was introduced in Ethiopia in 1991, creative individuals and companies began to produce films, initially using VHS videotape technology. Increasingly, new young filmmakers made the production rate of feature-length films more than double, from 40 to over 100 per year.

Piracy of movies is still a major problem in the Ethiopian film industry. Pirated copies are illegally uploaded and distributed online before films finish their theatrical run, without the producers’ permission.

Most Ethiopian films are made in Amharic, but some were also made in Oromo, Tigrinya and other local languages.

Fun Fact: Directed by Kidst Yilma, “Doka” reportedly cost three million birr – a record for Ethiopian cinema.