Cover Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture, also known as MoPop, is one of the most popular film museums around the world and a must-visit for any movie, music and comic book fan. (Photo: MoPop)
Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture, also known as MoPop, is one of the most popular film museums around the world and a must-visit for any movie, music and comic book fan. (Photo: MoPop)
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These must-visit film museums reveal the craft and history of cinema, from Hollywood to Berlin to Mitaka and beyond
For cinephiles with a passport, there’s more to travel than movie locations and themed tours. Scattered across the globe are film museums dedicated to the craft, each offering rare props, historic artefacts and behind-the-scenes insight. These must-visit museums aren’t just a great place for photo ops; they’re spaces that document how film shapes memory, identity and imagination. From Hollywood relics to anime archives, here are eight film museums where movie fans can indulge their curiosity and experience their favourite movies all over again.
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1. Academy Museum of Motion Pictures – Los Angeles, USA
Hollywood loves its own mythology, and nowhere is that more obvious than at the Academy Museum. Opened in 2021, the film museum houses Oscar-winning costumes, annotated scripts and the original shark from Jaws. The Stories of Cinema exhibit rotates regularly, while the Dolby Family Terrace offers a view as cinematic as what’s inside.
2. Ghibli Museum – Mitaka, Japan
Above The Ghibli Museum was designed by Hayao Miyazaki himself.
A pilgrimage for fans of Studio Ghibli, this museum is part dreamworld, part architectural puzzle. Designed by Hayao Miyazaki himself, it features original storyboards, a theatre screening exclusive shorts and full-scale replicas including the Catbus. Timed tickets are a must, and photography is strictly forbidden, much like entering a revered space.
3. The Cinematheque Française – Paris, France
Rather than indulging nostalgia, the Cinémathèque Française examines it. Home to one of the world’s most significant film archives, it offers a rigorous look at cinema history through early artefacts, director retrospectives and thematic exhibitions exploring everything from censorship to surrealism.
4. Museo Nazionale del Cinema – Turin, Italy
Housed in the striking Mole Antonelliana, this vertical museum takes visitors on an elevator ride through cinema history. Expect vintage cameras, interactive installations and rare stills from Italian neorealism to spaghetti westerns. Don’t miss the panoramic view at the top—a real-life establishing shot of the city.
5. Deutsche Kinemathek – Berlin, Germany
Located in the city’s modernist Sony Center, this film museum charts German cinema from Weimar to Wenders. Highlights include Marlene Dietrich’s personal belongings and a Cold War-era section that’s as politically charged as the films it references. It’s also home to Berlinale’s archives, giving it contemporary relevance year-round.
6. National Science and Media Museum – Bradford, UK
Film is just one part of the story here, but it’s treated with care. The museum’s cinema heritage gallery traces the evolution of film technology, while IMAX screenings show off the medium’s most immersive side. For those interested in how image-making shapes society, this is a quiet but essential stop.
7. The Jim Henson Exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image – New York, USA
While the Museum of the Moving Image itself covers all aspects of film and television, the permanent Jim Henson section is especially worth a visit. It features original puppets, sketches and behind-the-scenes footage that underscores the artistry behind childhood classics like The Muppet Show and Labyrinth.
8. MoPOP (Museum of Pop Culture) – Seattle, USA
While it spans music, sci-fi and gaming, MoPOP’s film offerings hold their own. It's among the few film museums that house original props from cult classics, including those from The Wizard of Oz, Alien and The Lord of the Rings, alongside exhibitions on horror, fantasy and cinematic world-building. It’s less a shrine to cinema than a celebration of how it intersects with broader pop culture—messy, inventive and cannot be missed.
Whether your tastes run to auteurs, animation or archival ephemera, these must-visit film museums offer far more than fan service. They are thoughtful spaces where the magic of film is explored with rigour and reverence, making them essential stops for travelling movie lovers with curiosity to spare.
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Chonx Tibajia is a senior editor at Tatler Asia’s T-Labs team, where she writes widely on lifestyle subjects including beauty, style, entertainment and travel. She has a long career in journalism, including roles as a columnist at The Philippine Star, and is the founder of the creative platform Pineappleversed. Beyond Tatler, her bylines appear in regional lifestyle and business publications, showcasing a broad portfolio that spans beauty trends, travel guides and culture pieces.
