Beyond the Wall: Cinema, History and Non-formal Learning. An Educational Cinema Season on Berlin as a Symbol of the Cold War.

Abstract

With my bachelor’s thesis “The role played by cinema in the promotion of the American cultural model in West Berlin during the 50s and the 60s” as a starting point, I have gone on to reflect on the way cinema can engage people and influence their opinions on history and culture. This eventually put the focus of my master’s dissertation on the way the expressive potential of cinema could be turned into an educational tool, which was also the result of my interest in alternative teaching methods. Therefore, at the heart of my master’s research are cinema, history and non-formal learning and their rendezvous within the proposal of a cinema season providing educational workshops and laboratories outside of school. To demonstrate a coherent development of previous research, the thematic leitmotiv of the cinema season proposed herein deals with the Cold War and, more specifically, with Berlin as a major symbol of this conflict. What I will ultimately endeavour to demonstrate is how cinema can be brought closer to young students and be promoted both as an instrument and as an independent subject. In addition, the acknowledgement of cinema’s double artistic and media function and the development of a critical approach to the media and to the learning process will be encouraged. The creation of a cinema season basically represents a way of strengthening the aim of my research by backing a collective cultural event which actively involves students and provides them with an interactive and challenging way of learning.