We watch so many American films that you would be forgiven for thinking that Hollywood is the only film industry in the world. They stand unopposed at the top of the pyramid as the most dominant force, but they are hardly the only ones. China sits comfortably in second place, which may come as a surprise because most of you probably can’t remember the last time you watched a Chinese film. However, you have to remember that China’s film industry primarily targets its own population, and the country has a whopping 1.4 billion people. Hollywood earned $33 billion in 2025. Their domestic revenue only accounted for $8 billion of that figure. The vast majority of Hollywood’s earnings came from abroad. Compare that to China, which made 51 billion yuan ($7 billion) in 2025, with 41 billion Yuan (81%) coming from the domestic market. China’s large population allows the country to make Chinese films specifically for the Chinese market. They don’t have to surrender to external influences. You would expect India to slide into third place, then; after all, their population is 1.46 billion. However, surprisingly, they are closer to number five. First of all, you have to differentiate between ‘Bollywood’ and the ‘Indian Film Industry.’ Bollywood specifically refers to ‘Hindi Cinema’, which grosses roughly $600 million annually. The Indian Film Industry as a whole exceeded $1.4 billion in 2025. But those figures include earnings from Punjabi Cinema (Pollywood), Telugu Cinema (Tollywood), Tamil Cinema (Kollywood), Malayalam Cinema (Mollywood), Assamese Cinema (Jollywood), and a dozen other small markets across the country. For context, RRR and Baahubali, the two Indian films Ugandans are most familiar with (because of the international buzz they generated) were Tollywood (Telugu-language cinema), not Bollywood. On the other hand, War 2 and Dhurandhar from 2025 are Bollywood. Indian Films have a stronger foothold in international markets than their Chinese counterparts. The good old days of Kung-fu films from China dominating the conversation abroad are gone. Japan comes in at number 3, which is astounding for a country with 123 million people, whose films are just as unknown to Ugandans as Chinese movies. I dare you to name one Japanese film from the last five years. No, make it twenty years. However, you must keep two crucial factors in mind. First, 75% of the $1.9 billion Japan’s film industry earned in 2025 came from the domestic market. Secondly, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle made a staggering $778 million worldwide. Those are MCU numbers. In fact, most Hollywood films don’t even make half that much. What does that mean? Anime has become a global powerhouse. International producers can no longer dismiss the medium as a niche fad destined to fade from the public’s consciousness. France is number 4. The country’s arthouse films continue to influence film markets in every corner of the globe. Now, if you rank these industries by output, India leads the pack with 2,500 films produced annually, followed closely by Nigeria (2000 films), Japan (1,300 films), China (800 films), and the United States (600 films). But their box office revenue proves that quantity does not necessarily translate into financial success. The U.S. film industry made four times as much money as China, despite producing fewer films. So, where does Uganda fit in this equation? I’m not sure, but it is not good. The-Numbers.com ranks us at number 150 globally, with an annual output of 8 films and an average total worldwide box office of $61,000, although I don’t know how accurate those figures are. Pulse.com ranked us at number five in Africa (estimated earnings of $500,000). But the publication does not specify whether those are the annual box office earnings or a grand total of all the money the Ugandan Film industry has ever earned. So clearly, we still have a long way to go. No offense to Tanzanians, but why is Tanzania ranked ahead of Uganda? For some reason my ranking of East African countries has always looked something like this: Kenya > Uganda > Rwanda > Tanzania > Burundi > DRC > South Sudan. Apparently, I was wrong.The post Look at the film industries Uganda look up to appeared first on The Observer.