About Cinemini Europe

Film education for 3-6 year old’s.

From a very young age, children are open to many different forms of art. Film, as an audiovisual medium, is particularly attractive and accessible for almost all children. Children not only enjoy moving image and easily engage with narrative films and documentaries, but also actively respond to abstract and experimental films, which give them a lot of room for imagination.

On this page more about:

The project

Children see movies on a daily basis. How can we make film watching a meaningful experience? How and what can we teach children in a very early age about film and media, since the early years are the most formative? We try to answer these questions on a practical way in Cinemini Europe, a film education project with films, activities and teaching materials for children between 3-6 years old.

With Cinemini Europe we want to give children and care takers the opportunity to discover the diverse world of moving image in a meaningful and fun way. We believe it is not primarily about understanding film, but rather experiencing it. By watching, playing and reflecting on moving image, we want to stimulate the development of creativity and critical thinking and spark a love for film.

For the didactical concept we were inspired by the position paper Spiel und Kunst von Anfang an – Kulturelle Bildung für junge und sehr junge Kinder. Positionen und Ziele, edited by: Bundesvereinigung Kulturelle Kinder- und Jugendbildung e. V. (BKJ) in 2016

Alejandro Bachmann translated it in English to make it available for the Cinemini group. Download here (pdf)

The partners

Cinemini Europe started in 2019 with Das Österreichische Filmmuseum, Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Eye Filmmuseum, Kinodvor Cinema Ljubljana, Taartrovers.

Go to Create Program to find more info on how each partner has worked with the Cinemini content.

In 2021 it will continue, with three new partners: Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication School (BFM), European Children’s Film Association and Serralves Foundation.

Cinemini Europe is supported by Creative Europe.

The Pilot, and how it originated

Between January 2019 – January 2021 the content of Cinemini Europe was developed, tested, evaluated and adapted. It took roughly 3 stages to build the Cinemini Europe kit:

1. Content development
(January 2019 - August 2019)

The partners together worked on the film selection criteria and the film catalogue with at least 20 short films based on the criteria.

Taartrovers designed 4 prototypes of the playful installations with themes like shadow & light, moving images, story playing and watching using all senses.

2. Developing, testing & researching content
(September 2019 - October 2020)

The partners together developed a balanced mix of activities and didactical lessons materials; playful, tactile, enriched with fantasy and less cognitive.

Each partner developed, tested, researched and evaluated a part of the Cinemini Europe program, connected to their own expertise regarding the target group and the 4 themes of the installations. They did this in cooperation with pedagogues of 2 groups of 15 to 24 children from kindergartens, preschools or schools.

Each partner program (or workshops) contained film lessons, didactic and pedagogical blueprints, digital lesson materials and booklets and suggestions for activities at the location and at kindergarten/preschools/schools.

3. Sharing & dissemination
(November 2020 – January 2021)

After finalizing, improving and combining all the results and outcomes, the partners will translate the Cinemini content into a practical film education kit. This will be shared with and presented to film organizations, film heritage institutions, kindergartens and schools within the countries of the partners as well as online and through presentations at festivals or other occasions. The partners of Cinemini Europe will stimulate, share and support the use of Cinemini Europe for at least 4 years.

Paul und Collegen has helped the Cinemini project in evaluation. Read the evaluation report here.