Busan to build exclusive center for film festival

BUSAN, Oct. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's major port city of Busan began construction Thursday on a film center to be used exclusively for the country's largest annual film festival, city officials said Thursday.

Named "Dureraum," or "together," the venue is estimated to cost approximately
162.4 billion won (US$133 million) and will be equipped with all the latest in
film making technology. The site is intended to serve as a one-stop center to
educate young film makers attending the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF)
and the Asian Film Academy, held on the sidelines of the festival.
"The PIFF will finally have a permanent venue, which means it won't have to
struggle to find a new one anymore," Busan Mayor Hur Nam-shik told reporters at a
groundbreaking ceremony.
Dureraum was designed by Austrian architect Coop Himmel and will house six
theaters, a museum, exhibition halls and other offices.
Advanced LED lighting systems installed on the two roofs will produce various
lighting effects, making the roofs themselves visual works of art, city officials
said.
The film festival in Busan -- previously spelled Pusan -- has been held annually
since 1996. This year's event begins later Thursday for a nine-day run.
The center is scheduled to open in October 2011, in time for the opening ceremony
of the 16th PIFF.