Idris Elba: Is Zollywood The New Film Frontier?

British film star Idris Elba has revealed he intends to relocate to Africa within the next decade, with the hopes of helping to develop the continent’s burgeoning film industry. Though he was born in London, the 52-year-old’s parents hail from the continent, with a mother from Ghana and a father from Sierra Leone. Elba plans to honour his African heritage by setting up a film studio in Accra, the capital of Ghana, and on Zanzibar, an island off the east coast of Tanzania.

‘I think [I’ll move] in the next five, 10 years, God willing,’ Elba recently told the BBC. ‘I’m here to bolster the film industry. That is a 10-year process: I won’t be able to do that from overseas. I need to be in-country, on the continent.’

‘I’m going to try and go where they’re telling stories – that’s really important,’ he added. So, could Zanzibar be the new Hollywood?

What Is Zollywood?

Zollywood is the nickname of an African film studio project helmed by British actor Idris Elba, who wants to develop the continent’s expanding film industry. He first voiced his ambitions in summer 2023, and in August 2024, the Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan reportedly gave Elba the green light.

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous archipelago off the east coast of Tanzania, and would play host to Elba’s film studio, which would be similar to any in ‘Hollywood, Nollywood or Bollywood,’ Tanzania’s investment minister Shariff Ali Shariff commented in August during the Zanzibar International Film Festival. ‘I’m not sure how we will call it in Zanzibar, whether Zollywood or Zawood,’ he added.

While Elba only revealed his plans last year, this project has been years in the making. In February 2023, the Hijack star told Ghanaian media: ‘Currently, we call it West African Studios, but that’s a working title. We’ve been working on this for three or four years to raise a plan that puts a facility at the centre of African filmmaking.’

As well as bolstering Africa’s film industry, Elba plans to build an eco-city in his father’s home nation, Sierra Leone. ‘It’s a dream, you know, but I work in the make-believe business,’ the actor says.

The African film industry has been on the rise for a number of years. The best known film-making nation is Nigeria, which has taken on the nickname ‘Nollywood’ in recent years thanks to its high volume of high revenue films, pumping out around 2,500 films every year. At present, 5 million people are employed by the film industry across the continent, generating around $5 billion USD each year – but the UN has reported there is the potential for more than 20 million people to be employed by the industry in the future, which could generate $20 billion annually.