Vision Cinema

What Vision Cinema does

Vision Kino gGmbH is a Berlin-based non-profit organization founded in 2006 that operates as Germany's national coordinator for film and media literacy among children and youth. The organization delivers the nationwide SchulKinoWochen (School Cinema Weeks) program, which brings student groups to partner cinemas across all 16 German states, alongside the interactive web portal filmisch.online for self-directed learning and a comprehensive library of Unterrichtsmaterial (teaching materials) including Filmhefte, FilmTipp Zoom, and Leitfäden covering 200+ films. Its flagship event SchulKinoWochen reached a cumulative milestone of one million student visitors announced in January 2025.

The organization functions as a government-backed gGmbH funded through federal cultural and educational institutions, including the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM), Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF). It holds the formal patronage of the Federal President of Germany and reports an employee base of 11-50 staff. Its go-to-market is event-driven: schools book cinema visits during SchulKinoWochen, teachers access free digital materials, and professional development is delivered through Fortbildungen and an annual Kongress. The technology stack centers on a self-serve web portal (filmisch.online) developed with technology partner AMMMa AG, supported by integrations with MailChimp, Matomo, SurveyMonkey, YouTube, Vimeo, and Google Maps.

The business model is non-commercial: all core educational materials are provided free of charge to educators, and the organization is sustained by institutional public funding rather than transaction revenue. Customer segments include German K-12 schools and teachers as primary users, children and youth aged 6-18 as end beneficiaries, partner cinemas as hosts, and educational authorities and policymakers as institutional stakeholders. Leopold Grün has served as Managing Director since 2019, with a leadership restructuring and supervisory board reconstitution announced in 2025 and 2020 respectively.

Name

Vision Cinema

Legal name

Vision Kino gGmbH – Netzwerk für Film- und Medienkompetenz

Website

https://visionkino.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Vision Kino is a Berlin-based non-profit founded in 2006 that promotes film and media literacy among German children and youth. It operates the nationwide SchulKinoWochen cinema program, the filmisch.online learning portal, and free curriculum-aligned teaching materials, funded primarily by federal cultural and educational institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Film and Media Literacy Education

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Special Education (SPED), IEP & Accessibility/Assistive Technology (EDAJAMAH)

Keywords

• Film education
• Media literacy
• School cinema programs
• Teacher training
• Educational materials

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government and Institutional Funding: As a nonprofit organization (gGmbH), Vision Kino is funded primarily through support from government agencies and cultural institutions. Core funding comes from the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM), Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), and Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek.
2. Educational Materials and Services: Free educational materials (Filmhefte, FilmTipp Zoom, Leitfäden) are provided to educators. Some materials may be available as free downloads or print-on-demand, supporting the nonprofit mission of promoting film literacy.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Vision Kino is a non-profit organization that promotes film and media literacy among children and young people in Germany. It operates nationwide school cinema programs (SchulKinoWochen, KitaKinoWochen, Mobile SchulKino), provides curricular-aligned teaching materials, runs the interactive digital learning platform filmisch.online, delivers teacher training and an annual congress, and funds initiatives such as "Film Macht Mut" for anti-racism film education.

Product overview

Vision Kino operates as a unified platform for film and media education targeting children and youth in Germany, organized around the SchulKinoWochen (School Cinema Weeks) as its flagship core offering. The product portfolio centers on filmisch.online, an interactive web portal for film literacy education, supported by a comprehensive suite of Unterrichtsmaterial (teaching materials) including guides, film brochures, and the Film Macht Mut handbook for anti-racist education. The organization delivers specialized projects such as the Kindertiger screenwriting prize, Berlinale Projekte festival collaborations, KitaKinoWochen for early childhood, and Zirkuskind interactive learning modules. Additional offerings include an annual Kongress (congress), Wissenschaftsjahr thematic programming, and Mobile SchulKino outreach services. All offerings interconnect through pedagogical content, cinema partnerships, and curriculum-aligned materials to strengthen film competence and cinema appreciation among young audiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SchulKinoWochen: School Cinema Weeks - a program bringing cinema visits to schools across German states
• filmisch.
• filmisch.online
• Kindertiger
• Kinotag zum 27. Januar

Products and services

• SchulKinoWochen (School Cinema Weeks) Annual nationwide program bringing current and curated films into German cinemas for school classes across all 16 federal states, with accompanying pedagogical materials for teachers.
• filmisch.online Interactive digital learning platform for film and media literacy, offering guided film analysis, interactive learning modules (Lernbausteine), and online resources for teachers and students.
• KitaKinoWochen (Kindergarten Cinema Weeks) Age-appropriate cinema program tailored for kindergarten groups, with specially curated films and accompanying educational materials for early-childhood educators.
• Mobile SchulKino Traveling cinema program bringing school cinema experiences to regions without easy access to partner cinemas, serving as a mobile extension of SchulKinoWochen.
• Curricular-aligned teaching materials Free downloadable and orderable teaching materials accompanying film education programs, aligned with German federal state curriculum standards.
• Film Macht Mut (anti-racism film education initiative) Project and accompanying handbook/foundation materials for film-based anti-racism education, providing teachers with structured guides to use cinema for discussing racism and diversity in the classroom.
• Zirkuskind Lernbausteine Interactive learning modules (Lernbausteine) for the film "Zirkuskind," designed for school use to support guided film analysis and media literacy exercises.
• Teacher training (Online-Fortbildung) Professional development programs for educators in film and media literacy, delivered online and in person, to build teacher capacity for using cinema as an educational tool.
• Annual Film Education Congress (Kongress) Yearly national congress on film and media education that brings together educators, researchers, and practitioners to advance the field of film pedagogy in Germany.
• 17 Ziele – Kino für eine bessere Welt (Cinema for a Better World) Film education program linking curated films to the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, providing teachers with materials to use cinema for global citizenship education.
• Berlinale school and education projects Collaboration with the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) to deliver special screenings, workshops, and educational events for schools during the festival.
• Kindertiger screenwriting prize Annual screenwriting prize for children and young people, encouraging creative screenwriting and engagement with film as a craft.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1 million+ student visitors to SchulKinoWochen program
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Stiftung Deutsche KinemathekcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Partner in providing film historical resources and supporting Vision Kino's role in preserving and promoting film culture for youth.
• Kino macht Schule GbRcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Consortium of film industry organizations (Verband der Filmverleiher e.V., HDF Kino e.V., Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kino Gilde, Bundesverband kommunale Filmarbeit e.V.) that co-sponsors and supports Vision Kino programs.
• Bundespräsident Frank-Walter SteinmeiercoreOthers · 1 January 2006Federal President serves as official patron of Vision Kino, providing high-level institutional support and visibility for the organization's mission.
• Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal Agency for Civic Education collaborates on educational materials and programs related to democracy and political education through film.
• Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Berlinale)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Berlinale Generation program, bringing youth cinema programs to the Berlin International Film Festival.
• Deutsche FilmakademiemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman Film Academy collaborates on film education initiatives and supports Vision Kino's mission.
• KINOKULTUR für die SchulemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss partner organization bringing school classes to cinemas across Switzerland with film discussions and teaching materials. Collaboration on Zirkuskind project and international film education.
• Critical Film & Image Hub (Universität Heidelberg)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch project at University of Heidelberg studying visual anti-Romanticism mechanisms, collaborating on educational materials and anti-discrimination strategies for media literacy.
• European Film AcademyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates on European film education initiatives and programs.
• kinofenster.deminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm education portal operated by Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, offering complementary film education resources.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• European Film Academy: Pan-European film body that collaborates on film education initiatives and shares Vision Kino's mission of promoting film literacy among young audiences across Europe.
• Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb): Federal Agency for Civic Education that funds and operates film education resources, including kinofenster.de, and acts as a strategic partner and financier for Vision Kino's media-literacy work.
• Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek: Core strategic partner and shareholder of Vision Kino, providing film-historical resources and serving as a broader cultural-education institution with overlapping film-competence programming.
• British Film Institute (BFI) - Education: UK institution delivering school cinema programs, film education resources, and teacher training; a comparable national coordinator for film literacy in schools outside Germany.

Regional players

• Cinekid: Dutch children's media festival and education program offering film literacy content, professional development, and school screenings comparable to Vision Kino's portfolio.
• Cinécole (Institut Français): French initiative bringing cinema to schools through subsidized screenings and pedagogical materials, structurally comparable to SchulKinoWochen but serving France rather than Germany.
• Kinderfilmfest / Lucerne International Film Festival: Festivals and programs dedicated to film education for children and youth, offering parallel school-screening and pedagogical content models in the DACH region.

Direct peers

• kinofenster.de (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung): Federal film education portal offering film reviews and pedagogical materials for educators, providing an overlapping curriculum-aligned film-literacy resource used in German schools.
• European Film Factory: European Commission-backed film education platform providing cross-border film literacy resources to schools, with overlapping curriculum-aligned content for classrooms.
• KINOKULTUR für die Schule: Swiss partner organization that brings school classes to cinemas with film discussions and teaching materials, directly mirroring Vision Kino's SchulKinoWochen model in a neighboring German-speaking market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Vision-Kino-156839904343272
• Instagraminstagram.com/vision_kino
• Xx.com/VisionKino
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vision-kino

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vision Cinema