Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term goes back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject of several controversies.

The origin of the term "Nollywood" remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema. Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words "Nigeria" and "Hollywood", the American major film hub.

The definition of which films are considered Nollywood has always been debated. Alex Eyengho defined Nollywood as "the totality of activities taking place in the Nigerian film industry, be it in English, Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Itsekiri, Edo, Efik, Ijaw, Urhobo, Ibibio, Annang or any other of the over 300 Nigerian languages". He further stated that "the historical trajectory of Nollywood started since the pre and post independent Nigeria, with the theatrical (stage) and cinematic (celluloid) efforts of the likes of Chief Hubert Ogunde, Chief Amata, Baba Sala, Ade Love, Eddie Ugbomah and a few others".

Over the years, the term Nollywood has also been used to refer to other affiliated film industries, such as the Ghanaian English-language cinema, whose films are usually co-produced with Nigeria and/or distributed by Nigerian companies. The term has also been used for Nigerian/African diaspora films considered to be affiliated with Nigeria or made specifically to capture the Nigerian audience. There is no clear definition on how "Nigerian" film has to be in order to be referred to as Nollywood.

Some stakeholders have expressed their disagreement over the term, giving reasons such as the fact that the term was coined by a foreigner, as such being another form of imperialism. It has also been argued that the term is an imitation of what was already in existence (Hollywood) rather than an identity in itself that is original and uniquely African.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking from most of the regional industries.

The Igbo-language film, Living in Bondage (1992), directed by Chris Obi Rapu and starring Paul Okechukwu Ogunjiofor, Kenneth Okonkwo, Kanayo O. Kanayo and Kenneth Nnebue (who also produced it), among others, is often credited with kick-starting the modern Nollywood era and is associated with southeastern Nigeria. After that were films like Circle of Doom, Nneka, The Pretty Serpent, Rituals, Rattle Snake, etc.

It is important to recognize that the Nigerian film industry has a more complex and diverse history too. Worth mentioning, before Living In Bondage was Things Fall Apart, an adaptation of Chinua Achebe's Novel of the same name, starring Pete Edochie.