Nearly everyone has significant memories and experiences of films. We remember a particular film from a certain phase of our lives and how it affected us. However, movies are often regarded only as entertainment and passive activity. Watching a movie on your TV screen has been compared to even light, poor sleep, and therefore not at all suitable for therapeutic purposes.

The study aimed to describe cinema as an occupation; what kind of an experience watching a film really is and how we are affected by the experience. The purpose of the study was to describe cinema as an occupation through the experiences of 17- to 22-year-old young women. Study has been conducted together with the Girls’ House in Oulu.

The thesis was a qualitative study, which was carried out through themed interviews in March 2011. Among the interviewed were young women who had previously participated in a cinema group facilitated by occupational therapy students. The material was analyzed according to the abductive content analysis. The theoretical base for this study lies in the activity analysis created by Gail S. Fidler, which is supported by the film theory of Hugo Münsterberg and other arguments from the field of film studies.

The results suggested that Fidler’s loosely defined symbolic meanings of an activity were heavily involved in the experience of cinema. To sense, to feel, to experience being in or out of tune and in step or out of step, to belong and to validate oneself were the elements that could be found in the experiences of the informants. Also the components of occupational well-being were present, because cinema as an occupation enables doing, being, becoming and belonging at the same time.

It can be concluded that a well-chosen movie can provide a cinema experience that is touching and emotional. Watching a particular movie can trigger an idea to start a process that affects the viewer’s perception of themselves and their lives.