Domestic historical pedagogical literature gives the idea that the media education in Russia began to form in the middle of the XX century when, as a matter of fact, this term was introduced into the Russian pedagogical science. Meanwhile, on the basis of various sources of the XIX-XX centuries it is possible to judge the wide use of an educational movie for the media educational purpose during this period. The article shows the formation of film education in Russia at the end of the XIX-XX centuries on the archival and published historical material.