The cinema of Djibouti refers to the film industry in Djibouti.
History
Storytelling is an ancient custom in the culture of Djibouti. Love of cinema in is but a modern, visual incarnation and continuation of this well-established tradition. The earliest forms of public film display in Djibouti were in French. In the 1920s, the first local movie theaters opened, during a time when Djibouti City was growing in size. Film screening establishments became a place where local residents could watch movies in a relaxed atmosphere. With the development of the local film industry, additional theatres were launched. Among these establishments was the Eden in 1934, Olympia in 1939, >Le Paris in 1965, and Al Hilal in 1975.
During the 1970s, the capital city had five movie theatres, with one in each district. A few local attempts at filmmaking were also concurrently carried out with the participation of local actors. One of these was Burta Djinka, a film in Somali directed by G. Borg in 1972. Following independence in 1977, a growing number of government-owned production and distribution companies as well as actual projection theaters sprang up.