Focus on Home Before Going International- Idris Elba’s Message to African Filmmakers

At the heart of the African film industry lies a question that Idris Elba is deeply passionate about: Should African filmmakers focus more on international audiences, or is it more important to first win over their local markets?

In an address at the second edition of the Africa Cinema Summit (ACS), Elba, an internationally recognized actor and filmmaker, shared his thoughts with a crowd of creatives, producers, and enthusiasts.

“We have to think about appeasing our local market,” he began, with the kind of emphasis that showed his firm belief in the matter. “Local—I don’t just mean Ghana, but I mean Nigeria, West Africa, South Africa… because people love movies all over Africa.”

For Elba, the African market has untapped potential, and filmmakers overlook the importance of building a strong foundation at home.

“In as much as we want to appeal to the international market, we have to do it at home first,” he explained, referencing the way Hollywood movies typically follow a similar path.

“When you get an American movie hit, usually it’s a domesticated hit before it’s a hit outside. So is it really important that we don’t focus on International but we focus on home?”

Elba’s argument makes sense, especially when looking at the success stories from other parts of the world. The international appeal of films often comes after they’ve already made a name for themselves in their own regions.

A great example is Bollywood, which dominates the Indian market before its films reach international platforms. Elba seems to believe the same model could apply to African cinema—build locally, and expand globally.

Yet, as much as he stressed the importance of capturing local markets, Elba didn’t dismiss the need for quality filmmaking.

“We have to focus on quality,” he insisted, laying out what he sees as an equally important issue. “We can’t make films that do not keep to the standard of the rest of the world; there is no excuse for that.”

His words were not just a critique but also a rallying call to African filmmakers to step up their game. With the “democratization of equipment,” as he put it, there’s no longer a barrier to access high-quality cameras, sound equipment, or editing software.

“We can all shoot on a nice camera; we can all shoot with good mics.” What matters now is the dedication to ensuring the final product is as polished as anything coming from the big studios in Hollywood.

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