The museum is a modern cultural and interactive center including a cinema hall, where visitors can see masterpieces of classic and avant-garde cinema, as well as a museum telling about the main milestones in the development of the “most important of the arts.”
However, the museum became like this only recently, after a comprehensive renovation in 2011. A small movie theater appeared on this site forty years earlier, in 1971. At that time, educational and experimental films that had no chance of wide release were shown here. In 1984, a collection of exhibits connected in one way or another with the film industry appeared at the movie theater — this moment is considered the time of the museum's foundation.
At the beginning of the 2000s, the museum was transferred to the German Film Institute, which decided to turn it into a full-fledged tourist attraction. Now there is an endless influx of tourists here. In the screening rooms, they show both the very first black-and-white and silent films, as well as the latest releases, including in 3D.
The museum's exhibition is divided into three floors. On the first of them, historical items are presented: here you can see devices that made it possible to shoot films at different times. On the second — interactive - floor, every guest can feel like a director by taking part in the film editing process. The third floor is reserved for temporary exhibitions, and thematic photographs are also often displayed here.
