Summary Film as a Medium of Religious Education Protestant Practical Theology has begun to discover films as a medium of religious education. This development emerges within the context of a general cultural hermeneutic orientation of Practical Theology which encourages the treatment of religious phenomena outside of Christianity’s traditional fora. It is now recognized that stories in the audio-visual media culture and particularly cinematic films have acquired a significant function for making-sense of the world — traditionally the role of religious culture — and have, therefore, become relevant for processes of religious education. Films are particularly important for youth culture and especially movies act as significant resources for young people’s understanding and value-orientation. First results of a research project at the Berlin Institute for Practical Theology demonstrate, using the example of “Cast Away” (USA 2001), that religious patterns of meaning in films are adopted by recipients and how this occurs. Based on this research and a concept of education as self-education pace Volker Ladenthin, a critical treatment of movies is argued to be an important task for religious courses, which strive to be contemporary.