The Cinema in the Deutsches Filmmuseum was opened in 1971 and is endowed with a unique history. Founded as one of the first cinemas in communal ownership, its stands at the beginning of a Germany-wide development that has precipitated a lasting evolution in the attitude to film as a form of art. Throughout the decades the interest has been consistently pursued of integrating films, when possible in original versions, into thematic relationships, screening and stimulating discussion on classics of film history. Offered a forum time and again are interesting productions that find few opportunities on the commercial market. In country film series national filmographs are presented that are otherwise only accessible as individual works. Principal elements of the programme continue to be thematic retrospectives, events accompanied by lectures, the cultivation of neglected genres such as documentaries, short and avant-garde films, silent films with live music accompaniment, director and actor/actress portraits, the interpretation of social-political or aesthetic phenomena and epochs of film history. Festivals co-arranged or founded by the Cinema include the A-Festival, "LUCAS", Africa Alive and Verso Sud. The numerous guests of the Cinema always help to make cinema history come to life.