By Country
I set out to watch a film from every country on Earth, and write honestly about each one. I finished that challenge. This page is the map of it.
Not just the countries with famous industries, but the places that make one feature a decade as well as the ones that flood the world with them. Every country below links through to the reviews I have written from that part of the world.
World cinema is not a genre. It is most of the films ever made, and a fair few of the best ones. If your watching has stayed close to Hollywood, this is the place to wander off it. A thriller from South Korea, a Western shot in the Sahara, a ghost story from Thailand: the pleasures are the ones you already love, told in a different accent.
Browse by continent below, or start with the standouts I have pulled out first. The number beside each country is how many reviews I have written from there so far, and I am always adding more.
New for 2026: the Country Movie World Cup
All 214 countries and territories on this page, drawn at random into one giant knockout bracket. For every tie I watch the most popular film from each nation that I have not reviewed yet, and the better one goes through, until a single country is left standing.
By the numbers
- 231 countries and territories represented.
- 2,391 reviews on the site that I have tagged by country.
- 6 of 6 inhabited continents covered (plus a small "Other" bucket where the source tag does not map cleanly).
- Most reviewed country: United States (984 reviews).
- 65 countries currently represented by a single review. These are the hardest films to find, and the ones I am most pleased to have on the list.
Where to start
Not sure where to dive in? These are the ones I would hand a friend first. Films that show what a country's cinema can do, and that work on anyone.
Europe: The Hunt (Denmark) · La Haine (France) · Bicycle Thieves (Italy) · Stalker (Soviet Union)
Asia: A Separation (Iran) · Seven Samurai (Japan) · Parasite (South Korea)
South America: City of God (Brazil)
Africa: The Battle of Algiers (Algeria)
Oceania: Mad Max (Australia) · Once Were Warriors (New Zealand)
Every country
As of July 2026, 231 countries and territories represented across 2,391 reviews. The number beside each is how many reviews are live so far.
Jump to: Europe · Asia · North America · South America · Africa · Oceania · Other
Europe
Where cinema was invented, and where it still keeps inventing itself.
Albania (3) · Andorra (1) · Austria (7) · Belgium (28) · Bosnia and Herzegovina (2) · Bulgaria (4) · Croatia (3) · Cyprus (2) · Czech Republic (7) · Czechoslovakia (7) · Denmark (16) · Estonia (2) · Faroe Islands (2) · Finland (4) · France (156) · Germany (93) · Greece (4) · Hungary (3) · Iceland (3) · Ireland (7) · Italy (48) · Kosovo (1) · Latvia (2) · Liechtenstein (3) · Lithuania (3) · Luxembourg (6) · Macedonia (3) · Malta (1) · Moldova (2) · Monaco (3) · Montenegro (2) · Netherlands (17) · Norway (7) · Poland (8) · Portugal (5) · Romania (2) · Russia (5) · San Marino (2) · Serbia (5) · Slovakia (2) · Slovenia (1) · Soviet Union (10) · Spain (31) · Svalbard and Jan Mayen (1) · Sweden (16) · Switzerland (19) · Ukraine (3) · United Kingdom (194) · Vatican City (2) · Yugoslavia (1)
Asia
The continent producing the most films on Earth, and arguably the boldest.
Afghanistan (1) · Armenia (1) · Azerbaijan (2) · Bahrain (1) · Bangladesh (3) · Bhutan (2) · Brunei (2) · Cambodia (3) · China (17) · Georgia (2) · Hong Kong (28) · India (11) · Indonesia (5) · Iran (9) · Iraq (4) · Israel (1) · Japan (94) · Jordan (3) · Kazakhstan (2) · Kuwait (3) · Kyrgyzstan (2) · Laos (1) · Lebanon (5) · Macao (1) · Malaysia (2) · Maldives (2) · Mongolia (1) · Nepal (1) · North Korea (1) · Oman (2) · Pakistan (2) · Palestine (3) · Philippines (4) · Qatar (10) · Saudi Arabia (2) · Singapore (2) · South Korea (11) · Sri Lanka (2) · Taiwan (6) · Tajikistan (2) · Thailand (10) · Timor-Leste (1) · Turkey (4) · Turkmenistan (2) · United Arab Emirates (6) · Uzbekistan (2) · Vietnam (1) · Yemen (1)
North America
Hollywood plus everything Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean have made alongside it.
Antigua and Barbuda (1) · Aruba (1) · Bahamas (2) · Barbados (2) · Belize (2) · Bermuda (1) · Canada (49) · Costa Rica (2) · Cuba (2) · Dominica (2) · Dominican Republic (2) · El Salvador (2) · Greenland (2) · Grenada (2) · Guadaloupe (1) · Guatemala (2) · Haiti (2) · Honduras (1) · Jamaica (6) · Martinique (2) · Mexico (14) · Montserrat (2) · Netherlands Antilles (3) · Nicaragua (2) · Panama (2) · Puerto Rico (1) · St Kitts and Nevis (1) · St Lucia (2) · St Vincent and the Grenadines (1) · Trinidad and Tobago (2) · Turks and Caicos Islands (1) · United States (984)
South America
Magical realism on screen, plus the most politically alive New Wave of the 21st century.
Argentina (5) · Bolivia (2) · Brazil (10) · Chile (5) · Colombia (3) · Ecuador (2) · French Guiana (2) · Guyana (1) · Paraguay (1) · Peru (2) · Suriname (2) · Uruguay (2) · Venezuela (3)
Africa
Often pigeonholed as 'world cinema'. In truth, dozens of distinct national traditions.
Algeria (3) · Angola (1) · Benin (2) · Botswana (2) · Burkina Faso (1) · Burundi (1) · Cameroon (2) · Cape Verde (2) · Central African Republic (2) · Chad (3) · Comoros (2) · Congo (3) · Côte d'Ivoire (1) · Djibouti (2) · Egypt (5) · Equatorial Guinea (2) · Eritrea (2) · Ethiopia (3) · Gabon (1) · Gambia (2) · Ghana (2) · Guinea (2) · Guinea-Bissau (1) · Kenya (5) · Lesotho (1) · Liberia (1) · Libya (2) · Madagascar (2) · Malawi (1) · Mali (1) · Mauritania (2) · Mauritius (3) · Morocco (2) · Namibia (1) · Niger (2) · Nigeria (2) · Rwanda (1) · Senegal (6) · Seychelles (1) · Somalia (3) · South Africa (11) · South Sudan (2) · Sudan (3) · Swaziland (1) · São Tomé and Príncipe (1) · Tanzania (2) · Togo (2) · Tunisia (2) · Uganda (2) · Zambia (2) · Zimbabwe (1)
Oceania
Small populations, outsized contributions, especially out of Australia and New Zealand.
American Samoa (2) · Australia (22) · Cook Islands (1) · Fiji (3) · French Polynesia (2) · Guam (2) · Kiribati (2) · Marshall Islands (1) · Micronesia (2) · Nauru (1) · New Caledonia (1) · New Zealand (18) · Niue (1) · Northern Mariana Islands (1) · Palau (1) · Papua New Guinea (2) · Samoa (3) · Solomon Islands (2) · Tokelau (1) · Tonga (2) · Vanuatu (1)
Other
Tagged with a region that doesn't fit cleanly elsewhere on this list.
Czech Republic 2 (1) · France 2 (1) · Iran 2 (2) · Italy 2 (2) · Japan 2 (1) · Latvia 2 (1) · Lebanon 2 (1) · Pakistan 2 (1) · Palestine (1) · Saudi Arabia 2 (1) · Switzerland 2 (2) · Syria (1) · Turkey 2 (1) · United Kingdom 2 (2) · Usa (6) · Western Sahara (1)
What I am working on next
The every-country challenge is finished, but the site is not. The next stretch is the various 'top' lists that Letterboxd tracks (the Letterboxd Top 500, IMDB Top 250, Sight and Sound, Oscar and Cannes winners, Roger Ebert's Great Movies, and the top 250s for documentary, animation, horror, women directors and Black directors). New reviews land here twice a week.
If you have a film you think I should not have missed from your part of the world, get in touch via the About page.
Last updated: July 2026.