Beyond Streaming: Exploring Nollywood Cinema Attendance as Cultural Practice and Tourism Potential in the Digital Age

Streaming has transformed how films are accessed, but it has not eliminated the social reasons audiences still gather in cinemas. The cinema remains a cultural space where films are collectively experienced, discussed, and connected to wider meanings of identity, place, and belonging. This study examines Nollywood cinema attendance as a cultural practice within Nigeria’s changing digital media environment, examining the notion that the expansion of streaming platforms signals the decline of theatrical experiences. The article challenges the dominant focus on Nollywood’s production, distribution, and commercial success by foregrounding audience experiences and the social meanings attached to cinema-going. Guided by Uses and Gratifications Theory and Social Identity Theory, the study adopts a qualitative research design, drawing on Focus Group Discussions with eighteen cinema patrons from selected theatres in Rivers State, Nigeria. Data were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis to examine audience motivations, digital engagement, cultural identification, and perceptions of cinema as a tourism resource. Findings show that cinema attendance continues not as a rejection of streaming but as a distinct form of social interaction, emotional participation, cultural expression, and collective identity formation. The study further reveals that Nollywood cinema spaces influence how audiences imagine Nigerian places, communities, and cultural possibilities. It argues that streaming and cinema should be understood as complementary practices within a changing media culture. By connecting audience studies, Nollywood scholarship, and film-induced tourism, the article positions cinema attendance as a cultural practice where stories, identities, and places are continually negotiated.