The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) entrusted to the International Film and Television Council (IFTC) the task of collecting documentation on world cinematographic organizations, in order to provide developing nations with information useful to the establishment of similar services adopted to their particular needs. The IFTC's study focuses upon institutions of a public nature whose objective is to promote the cinema and its applications to education, science and culture. The nature and function of the cinema are discussed, along with the kinds of audiences aimed at, the stages of operations involved in making films, and the types of institutions which carry on these operations. Information is provided on particular institutions which are responsible for specific categories of films--such as educational, scientific, and children's films--and for different stages of film production. The final major section explores examples--drawn from India, Canada, Sweden, Britain, France and Poland--of centralized national cinematographic institutions with inclusive functions. Seventeen appendixes provide additional details about aspects of cinema. (PB)