Italian schools integrate cinema into formal curricula

Cinema is increasingly being integrated into the formal curricula of Italian schools, moving beyond extracurricular activities to become a core part of educational paths from primary to lower secondary levels. This shift views media education as a new form of literacy, essential for decoding and producing visual images.

At the Venice Film Festival, the event ‘Media Education: the transformative power of short cinema’ highlighted these developments. Organized by Spaggiari through ClasseViva EXTRA in collaboration with WeShort, the event brought together schools, institutions, and audiovisual professionals to showcase student work and institutional best practices.

According to Bruno Zambardino of the Ministry of Culture’s General Directorate for Cinema and Audiovisual, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Merit have invested approximately 20 million euros annually for seven years into image education projects. These initiatives have reached nearly two million students across Italy. Nicola de Cesare, CEO of Spaggiari, emphasized the importance of creating a unified system to share successful educational practices across different institutions.