Malayalam cinema is a part of Indian cinema based in the state of Kerala, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Malayalam language. Although the industry's Gross Box-office is smaller, when compared to large market driven industries such as Telugu cinema, and Tamil cinema, Malayalam films have gained unique recognition in world cinema for their technical finesse, and craft. Malayalam films are released in Kerala, and a handful of them being released in the United States, Australia, Germany, and the U. K. Works such as Marana Simhasanam, and Vanaprastham were screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival,Marana Simhasanam has garnered the coveted Caméra d'Or ("Golden Camera") for that year.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan has garnered the International Film Critics Prize (FIPRESCI) for his works such as Mukhamukham (1984), Anantaram (1987), Mathilukal (1989), Vidheyan (1993), Kathapurushan (1995), and Nizhalkkuthu (2002). In 1982, Elippathayam won the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival, and Most Original Imaginative Film of 1982 by the British Film Institute. Rajiv Anchal's Guru (1997) and Salim Ahamed's Adaminte Makan Abu (2011) are the Malayalam films to be sent by India as its official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards.