The 10th anniversary conference Cinema off School 2025: How digital games are changing education

Today's pupils and students are digital natives - surrounded by screens, gaming apps and interactive media since childhood. The boundaries between online and offline worlds are blurring and games are not just fun for them, but part of their everyday reality, a way of communicating and learning about the world. This is why this year's conference asks: Can digital games enrich the didactics of film and audiovisual education? Conversely, can F/AV know-how help game studios create educational games that really work in schools?

The intention of the conference is to create a space for dialogue between game developers, practitioners and experts in film and audiovisual pedagogy. Sharing experiences, presenting concrete case studies and discussing possible forms of teaching in which digital technologies become a natural part, the aim is to inspire deeper collaboration across these disciplines.

While just a few years ago games were often seen only as entertainment, today this perspective is also changing. Alongside blockbuster titles, independent original games and serious educational projects are being born. Games such as Playing Kafka, DigiStories, Freedom 1945: Liberation, Velvet 89 or Train to Sachsenhausen show that the gaming medium can convey complex historical or social themes to pupils in an accessible and often highly emotional way. However, the use of games in education does not stop at history - they also find application in literature, computer science, urban studies or civic education.

There is also the question of how the merging of the film and games industries is progressing into a broader whole of audiovisual culture. In recent years, there has been an ever closer integration of the two media, which are complementary in many ways, whether in storytelling, aesthetics or technology. This trend offers Czech schools a new, creative framework for integrating digital technologies into the curriculum.

The conference will also feature presentations from game studios developing educational titles, as well as the experiences of educators who are integrating digital games into their classrooms.

There will also be demonstrations of model lessons, which will give participants an insight into the specific work with games as an educational tool. The conference will also highlight the efforts of some studies to produce methodological materials - that is, precisely structured guides on how to incorporate games into teaching effectively and purposefully. This is often where the game-based approach begins to approach the established standards of film education.

A traditional part of the programme will be the  presentation of the Boris Yachnin Award for long-term contribution in the field of film and audiovisual education, which is an important symbol of continuity and appreciation of work in this field.

The conference will be moderated by Pavel Bednařík, a lecturer, dramaturge and educator who has long been involved in the relationship between film and education. Bednařík has served as artistic director of the Summer Film School, taught at FAMU and FMK UTB in Zlín, and is a member of the British Film Institute Expert Group (FLAG). His deep insight into the field of audiovisual pedagogy and orientation in digital media promises inspiring guidance throughout the day.

The Cinema Beyond School 2025 conference takes place on 1 June 2025 in the lecture room at the University Library U13 and is organised by the Association for Film and Audiovisual Education in collaboration with the Zlín Film Festival and the Creative Europe Office - MEDIA.