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BUSAN 2011 NEW VENUE


Asian cinema’s new home T


his year marks the long-awaited opening of the Busan Cinema Center, a dedicated venue for the


Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). After years of planning, stalled fund-


ing and a big financial push from the Busan Metropolitan City government, the new centre is set to be completed in time for the opening ceremony of the 16th BIFF on October 6. Traditionally, the festival’s opening


and closing ceremonies have taken place in the outdoor screening venue of the Haeundae Yachting Center. Though one of the most evocative elements of the seaside festival, rain had always been a concern for these ceremonies and the outdoor screenings. At the wet opening night of the festival’s 12th edi- tion, stars, film-makers and visiting dignitaries in formal evening wear gamely walked a soaked red carpet while a raincoat-wearing public scolded people who opened umbrellas and obstructed their view. One of the first things BIFF organis-


ers looked at when they held open calls for architectural plans was whether this problem could be solved.


Grand designs Austria’s award-winning co-operative architectural firm Coop Himmelblau — whose other projects include the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, now under construction, and BMW World in Munich — created a design which included an open-air screening area that is sheltered by an LED-show roof. Two roofs, actually: the Big Roof and Small Roof together made to look like undulating waves or wings about to take flight. “The Big Roof alone is 1.5 times the


size of a football field. The Small Roof is the size of one football field,” says Shim Jae-min, secretary general of the Busan Cinema Center (BCC). “They are held up by the Double Cone in the middle of the structure, which uses the cantilever construction method. On the whole, the Busan Cinema Center has the largest cantilevered roof in the world. We are


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trying to get it in the book of Guinness World Records, but they don’t seem to have a category for this yet.” As for safety, Shim says: “The Center


has been tested twice by experts from Germany. The building can withstand an earthquake of 7.0 intensity and has no problem with wind speeds of 65m per second. The roof can take up to 1m of snow — not that it ever snows much in Busan, but you never know with cli- mate change.” The inside of the big and small roofs


are covered with 42,700 LED lighting sets, able to run 12 different visual pro-


The BCC has two roofs sheltering a 4,000-seat open-air screening area


‘We are trying to get the cantilevered roof in the book of Guinness World Records — but they don’t have


a category for it’ Shim Jae-min, BCC


As BIFF moves to a dedicated venue, the Busan Cinema Center, for the first time this year, Jean Noh looks at how the festival’s new home will transform the event


grammes, which Busan City and the BCC are hoping will become a tourist attraction. Whether an LED show will replace the fest’s traditional fireworks show at the opening ceremony had not been decided at the time of writing. Under the lofty roofs, the outdoor


screening arena seats 4,000 with a screen up against the inner wall of what is called the Cine Mountain. This part of the BCC houses one multifunctional theatre with 833 seats, a mid-size thea- tre with 413 seats and two smaller ones each with 212 seats. Different routes of access include escalators, elevators and


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BUILDING THE BUSAN CINEMA CENTER


At the time of writing, the BCC is due for completion on September 28 with a commemorative ceremony and concert to be held September 29. The building work started on the opening day of BIFF (then PIFF) in 2008. “Construction has been going


smoothly, but the completion is slower than expected so we won’t be moving offices until after the festival,” says festival director Lee Yong-kwan. “We’ll


hold screen tests to make sure nothing goes wrong. About 95% of what we originally expected will be ready by the time the festival opens.” Excluding the cost of the


equipment inside and land outside and under the building, the BCC has cost around $158m. The building is owned by Busan City, which has made it a mission to establish Busan as a media hub for Asia. “Over the years, there have


been many difficulties with the Busan Cinema Center budget. Originally, $43m (WON46bn) came from national government funds. But after we held the design contest, we knew that wouldn’t be enough. It was Busan City that finally gave us drastic support to finish the building, and we will have to repay them by making the most of it and holding a festival that befits its new world-class venue,” says Lee.


October 2011 Screen International 7 n


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