Schools

Costumes and props, photographs, film scripts, sketches and designs of sets and models, cameras and film footage – film history is brought to life by a wide range of objects in the Permanent Exhibition. In twelve rooms, the museum recounts the beginnings of German cinema, of early film stars and classics (e.g., Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari and Metropolis), of the golden era of German cinema during the Weimar Republic, and its misuse under National Socialism. The exhibition portrays the situation of German filmmakers and artists living in exile, and on their return after World War II. Two rooms are devoted to German film from the postwar period to the present. A central theme of the exhibition is dedicated to Marlene Dietrich’s estate.

Duration  90 / 120 minutes
School classes  65 / 85 € (plus 2 € admission per person)

You may also book tours at any time on the following subjects, among others:

• Early History of German Film – Pioneers and Classics
• The Weimar Republic and National Socialism – Film in Historical Context
• Film As an Instrument of Propaganda
• The Icon Marlene Dietrich
• Berlin as a “Film City”

Duration  60 / 90 / 120 minutes
School classes  45 / 65 / 85 € (plus 2 € admission per person)

This blend of walking tour and the permanent exhibits at the Museum of Film and Television brings visitors on a fascinating journey through the past and present of "Film City Berlin."

During their visit to the exhibition, participants will learn more about the origins of German cinema, Berlin's film palaces, early stars and film classics such as Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari and Metropolis. We will explore the Golden Age of German film during the Weimar Republic as well as its takeover during the Nazi reign. 

The tour visits locations seminal to the early history of film production and cinematic presentation in Berlin as well as shooting locations for major modern films that feature Berlin, either as itself or as a stand-in for other metropolises such as Moscow, New York or even Kabul. At the same time, the tour provides glimpses of the current state of the film industry in the German capital, which has taken a major international star turn since the fall of the Wall.

Age  16+
Duration  3 hours
School classes  125 €

What makes images on television and in the cinema move? When did images start talking and what animation techniques were first used? During a guided tour through the permanent exhibition, young visitors are given the answers to these and countless other questions related to cartoons and animation techniques.
The tour begins with the pioneers of German film. It then moves through the early years of German cinema, and explains the beginnings of sound film. How images are manually and individually animated is demonstrated by silent film classics like Metropolis.


Age  8+
Duration  1 hour
School classes  45 € (plus 2 € admission per child, 3 € per adult)

The use of mobile multimedia devices, such as smart phones and tablets, are part of everyday life for many people. These devices provide access to more than just communication and multimedia entertainment, however. In addition, they also place a pocket-sized, but complete set of film equipment at your fingertips, making experimentation with basic techniques of filming and producing creative-artistic work with audiovisual media quite simple.
In the context of the workshop, participants unlock the hidden potential of smart phones, etc., guided by a film professional’s expert instructions. First, a film team is organized, then a cinematic idea is jointly developed and a shooting schedule is laid out. This preparation is followed by putting the plans into action, using cinematic aesthetic tools to produce film and sound recordings that are subsequently assembled into a finished clip. The structure of the workshop can be coordinated to meet the interests and prior knowledge of the participants. The following themes are examples of offers available for booking:

•  Portrait – Who am I and What Makes Me Who I Am?
•  Berlin, the Metropolis – Staging the Aesthetic of the Big City
•  Black-and-White – An Homage to Silent Films
•  Breaking News

Age  12+
Duration  4 hours
School classes  165 € (max. 10 people) / 325 € (max. 20 people)

This workshop can be organized for larger groups on request.

Photography and film are closely related – they are suited to documentation and staging, and they can be used to enlighten or manipulate. Aesthetics and image design often play a decisive role in the process, and they make use of a broad palette of imagery between art and reportage. Since the beginning of film history, photographs have accompanied the medium of film and taken on important functions: Still photographs represent film scenes contextually and aesthetically, work photos document the filming and production processes, portrait photographs of stars and film professionals serve advertising purposes or self-promotion. These pictures often manage to capture everyday life or a certain zeitgeist.

This workshop explores photographic image design. Using the diverse holdings in the permanent exhibition as a starting point, attention is drawn to the poses, situations and places on display, which raise a number of related questions: In addition to rituals and familiar gestures, do the photos also convey role models? Can relationships be recognized between the locations, the people depicted and their surroundings? Where are photographs staged or documented, and where are they interpreted? Participants’ own photographic experimentations with staging and representation, realized with a digital single-lens reflex camera (SRL), will be presented at the conclusion of the workshop.

Age  12+
Duration  3 hours
School classes  125 € (max. 12 people) / 245 € (max. 24 people)

The cameraman or the camerawoman is often a true artist with the camera. Great directors like Wim Wenders or Jim Jarmusch value their work, because it is only with a good cameraman – today the title Director of Photography is also common – and his team that a film can become a masterpiece. Important aesthetic decisions are made in collaboration with the director. Creativity and expertise are required if the perfect image is to be provided – by means of lighting, field of view or camera movements, for example.
Inspired by the work of renowned cinematographers and led by a young film professional, the participants in the workshop address the basic techniques of filming and the artistic and creative possibilities of working with digital camera technology. Cinematic language plays as great a role here as the selection of motifs and the play of light. First the team for the shoot is organized, then the participants develop their own way of approaching the work, finding their own motifs, and developing creative cinematic forms of design. This is followed by implementation, in which the cinematic impressions and camera movements are adopted and finally mounted into a clip.

Age  16+
Duration  4 hours
School classes  165 € (max. 10 people) / 325 € (max. 20 people)

This workshop can be organized for larger groups on request.

Film is a powerfully effective medium. Its potential for manipulation was recognized in the early days of film and has since been exploited by a number of governments, parties and institutions. One of the best known examples of this practice is the film propaganda used by the National Socialists.
However, ideological messages and propagandistic intentions can be detected even in current German and international productions. Entertainment, particularly in the genres of action films, war dramas and history films, tends to convey moral concepts, philosophies of life and recommended actions that often go unnoticed by viewers, although they deserve to be critically scrutinized.
In a combined exhibition tour, screening of film clips and a moderated discussion, participants pursue questions concerning which ideological or propagandistic messages contemporary film and television productions convey, and which means they employ for these messages to come across.

Age  14+
Duration  3 hours
School classes  125 €

In this workshop, the participants deal with the creation process of a film – from script to storyboard to cinematic realization. First, they will learn the basics of cinematic design. Using German and international productions such as Lola Rennt or Das weiße Band as examples, the storyboards for individual script sequences and their cinematic implementation will then be analysed. The students work with excerpts from original screenplays and storyboards from the archives of the Deutsche Kinemathek.

Age 16+
Duration 3 hours
School classes 125 €

In this workshop, the participants will use exhibits, exhibition texts and supplementary sources to explore the division of Germany, life in the GDR and the events from the Peaceful Revolution to the unification of the two German states. Topics such as film politics in the GDR, the divided film city of Berlin and the Peaceful Revolution in the mirror of the Media will be explored and the following questions will be discussed: What restrictions were film-makers subject to in the GDR? What was DEFA and what functions did it perform? Which outstanding films were made in the GDR and why were some banned? Which image of the GDR is created in the film and to what extent does it reflect the realities of the time? The workshop gives students an overview of the historical events surrounding the division of Germany and the political upheaval of 1989/90 as well as the basics of media analysis. Supplementary source, film and image materials facilitate access to the topics.

Age  15+
Duration  3 hours
School classes 125 €

What longings, fears and visions are reflected in science fiction films? What do these films tell us about their time of origin? What contemporary references, for example, can be found in the fictional societies of the future?

This workshop encourages an intensive examination of the science fiction genre. A special focus will be on the interplay of cinematic and extra-film reality. A science fiction film is always at the same time an entertainment medium, as well as a testing ground, a projection screen or a place of longing. The mostly dystopian social drafts of the films present possible technological and social developments as well as their consequences for mankind: social grievances and visions, the hostility toward technology and the belief in progress are critically examined. Current topics such as the lack of resources and environmental protection, (medical) research and pandemics, technological progress and the surveillance state play just as important a role as questions of ethics and social justice.

Using film excerpts and supplementary source material, the workshop participants will analyse selected science fiction films and gain insights into the genre, its development and its references to the present.

Age 16+
Duration 3 hours
School classes 125 €

In the tradition of the German special effects pioneer Lotte Reiniger (1899–1981) and other animators working in this field, participants produce a richly imaginative story under the expert guidance of animation specialists. The workshop begins with a review of film history, in which select design options are presented and individual ideas are developed. Afterwards, participants create their own short cinematic narrations in the style of silhouette animation.
To make animated films from silhouettes or cutouts, black silhouettes of self-made figures - plants, animals and imaginary creatures – and other materials are brought to life on a backlit glass surface. The images are montaged into an animated film using the stop motion technique and digital software. Professional animators lead the workshop.

Age  8+
Duration  3 hours
School classes  125 € (max. 12 people) / 245 € (max. 24 people) / 365 € (max. 30 people)

Making your own animated film doesn’t have to be difficult! After a short introduction into how moving images and different animation techniques work, participants develop their own storyboard for a cartoon and turn it into a short film. They create it frame by frame using a two-dimensional technique called cutout animation, as well as a Trickbox and a digital camera. This workshop can be combined with the “Animated Films and Techniques” tour.

Age  8+
Duration  3 hours
School classes  125 € (max. 12 people) / 245 € (max. 24 people) / 365 € (max. 30 people)

The film courses at the Museum für Film und Fernsehen offer a unique opportunity to do that. Participants are trained to deal with the medium of film through selected works of German film history. Both classics of film history and contemporary movies are put to use. Depending on the chosen main focus, the three-hour courses can consist of the following components: viewing film clips; guided discussions about film; research on the original formative contexts and reception history by using exhibitions, archival and source materials; comparison of a film with other cinematic and photographic works; and much more.
 
We offer film courses for the following films and themes:
 
Gegen die Wand (Head-on)
Theme: Migration and Identity

Angst essen Seele auf (Ali: Fear eats the Soul)
Theme: Film Talk

Age  15+
Duration  3 hours
School classes  125 €

Young Berlin filmmakers provide insights into their works based on one of their films, a series or another audiovisual work that will be jointly screened. These talks introduce a filmmaker’s personal working methods and delve into the process of filmmaking - ranging from finding a subject and developing the material, to the work’s actual staging and production. Moreover, the various cinematic trades, including directing, cinematography and film editing will be explained. Programs can be booked with a focus on documentaries, animation, children’s movies or feature films, etc., as well as in diverse formats such as series or video art. The content and scope of the programs are coordinated individually.

Duration  2 hours
School classes  125 €

Movies and magic are closely related to one another. Both make the most extraorinary things possible: Inanimate objects come alive, moving as if directed by a magic wand, and supernatural forces seem to manifest before our eyes. All kinds of special effects have been used since the earliest days of cinema and have developed with the times. Creating magic with images has always been at the very heart of filmmaking. “Hocus Pocus!” guides participants through the history of cinematic special effects. They will learn the fundamentals of film techniques and about early methods of producing special effects on a brief thematic tour through the permanent exhibition. A film program with examples from over 100 years of motion picture history provides the basis for a subsequent joint discussion.

Duration  2 hours
School Classes  from 85 €

The Deutsche Kinemathek offers film talks on a variety of German and international film classics, but also on contemporary productions. These group bookings combine introductions presented by museum staff, digital film screenings and moderated film assessments and discussions. A film can be analyzed, interpreted and discussed in terms of its contents, aesthetics or ideological aspects, for example.

Film talks can be organized on the following films, among others:

• Angst essen Seele auf (Fear eats the Soul)
• Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)
• Im Westen nichts Neues (All quiet on the Western Front)
• Nosferatu
• Berlin - Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlin: Symphony of a great City

Contact and further information: bildung@deutsche-kinemathek.de

Duration  2–3 hours
School Classes  starting at 125 €

Please register groups of ten or more persons in advance with the Museumsdienst Berlin. It can be reached at:

Museum Service Berlin
+49 30 247 49-888
museumsdienst@kulturprojekte.berlin

The lockers on the 2nd basement floor of the museum also include lockable bins that allow for backpacks/jackets from school classes in particular to be stored. There are four large bins in all.

We offer tours and educational events specially tailored for teachers on a regular basis. These are announced in both our newsletter and our events calendar. Please don't hesitate to contact us directly to find out which programs would work for you.

Contact:

Education
Jurek Sehrt
+49 30 300903-622
bildung@deutsche-kinemathek.de

The museum is intended for children eight years and older in the accompaniment of their parents. We recommend taking part in one of our educational programs to help children understand the context – such as for example a tour through the animation and technology exhibits.

Photography is prohibited within the exhibits. You're welcome to take private photographs in our museum's foyer, however.

There is a designated area for food in the entry area on the ground floor near the cash registers. Food is not permitted elsewhere in the museum.