Cinema becomes classroom for students in Rio's municipal school system.

The opening session brought together 250 students from the municipal school system and their guardians. Photo: Davi Cerqueira / SME

The Rio de Janeiro City Hall launched Cinesaberes, an initiative that takes students from the municipal public school system and their families to the cinema as a learning activity. The initiative is a partnership between the Municipal Education Department and RioFilme, an agency of the Municipal Culture Department, and aims to democratize access to cinema and strengthen audiovisual media as a pedagogical tool. The program's launch session took place on Saturday (March 28th) at the Cine Odeon, in Cinelândia, downtown Rio.

The opening session brought together 250 students from the municipal school system and their guardians. The students came from schools in different neighborhoods, mainly from the North and West zones. Students from the recently launched GET Audiovisual program, in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood, also participated in the inaugural session.

The Municipal Secretary of Culture, Lucas Padilha, emphasizes the importance of the initiative as a public policy for democratizing access to culture.

– It is essential to train new artists and consumers of culture, whether in literature, music, theater, or visual arts. In cinema, we are experiencing a moment of global recognition for Brazilian production, and this success is largely due to the Rio de Janeiro audiovisual industry. We want to offer the tools that allow these children to become new creators and professionals in this segment.

During his speech, Leonardo Edde highlighted that “Cinesaberes has enormous value because it guarantees our students a complete cultural experience that also promotes a sense of belonging to the city. When a student from anywhere in Rio occupies a movie theater and experiences this moment with their family, complete with popcorn, they broaden their horizons, strengthen their self-esteem, and discover new possibilities for their future.”

The initiative provides movie tickets with popcorn for students in the municipal school system and their guardians, expanding access to education through audiovisual experiences and guaranteeing the right to the city for thousands of students in different areas.

The partner cinemas were strategically chosen, considering their location in neighborhoods and regions served by the municipal public network, facilitating access for students and guardians to screenings and contributing to the formation and retention of audiences in local cinemas.

Throughout the project, students will receive tickets and will be able to choose the films they wish to watch, always accompanied by a guardian. The aim is to encourage autonomy and broaden their cultural repertoire, while also fostering interest in the city's cinema programming.

The Cinesaberes project will take place between April and December 2026 and aims to broaden access to cinema for students in the municipal school system and encourage the use of audiovisual media as an interdisciplinary pedagogical resource, contributing to civic education and the development of life projects, with the joint participation of students and guardians and the strengthening of integration between school and family.