Korea's 'city of film' has long history and plans for a bright future

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Korea's 'city of film' has long history and plans for a bright future

The opening ceremony of the 2022 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) is held on Oct. 5 at the outdoor theater of Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae District, eastern Busan. [YONHAP]

The opening ceremony of the 2022 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) is held on Oct. 5 at the outdoor theater of Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae District, eastern Busan. [YONHAP]

 
From sleek and seductive romances like "Decision to Leave" (2021) to satirical thrillers like "Parasite" (2019), Korean films are making a name for themselves in the cinema world with a robust and bountiful spectrum of movies.  
 
Behind their rise to international prominence, the entire industry takes root in Busan, a southern port city also called the city of film. Busan is now home to the annual Busan International Film Festival, also called BIFF. The event, established in 1996, has set the stage for Busan's international reputation as a cinematic hub of Asia. Every October, cinephiles from around the world flock to the Busan Cinema Center in eastern Busan for Asia's largest film festival. This year's event will mark the 28th edition. But the port city's history with film goes much further back than 27 years.
 
There are disputes as to which theater was the country's very first to screen a motion picture, and Busan's Haengjwa, which was located in Nampo-dong, near the port sometime between 1895 and 1915, is one of those. In an array of books like "Busan Film" (1991), "100 years of Busan Film" (2001), "Modern Film History of Busan" (2009) and "Cinema History of Busan" (2018), late Hong Young-chul (1946-2016), who was a researcher of Korean film history, wrote Busan is "indeed the birthplace of the Korean film industry." Hong dedicated more than 45 years of his life to studying Korean film. He is revered for archiving a vast amount of data on Korean film and establishing the Korean Film Archives that laid the foundation to establish the current Busan Museum of Movies in Nampo-dong.
 
Haengjwa was renovated in 1915 and screened moving pictures only [BUSAN MUSEUM OF MOVIES]

Haengjwa was renovated in 1915 and screened moving pictures only [BUSAN MUSEUM OF MOVIES]

 
Hong insisted in his books that Haengjwa already existed in 1895, probably as a theater that staged plays. He wrote that it was then transformed into a cinema for moving pictures soon after, saying it was Korea's first movie theater to screen a film.
 
During the Japanese colonial era, there were 23 theaters in Busan, proving that the city was a leader in the country's popular culture until Korea's liberation in 1945. Korea's first film production company Chosun Kinema Co. was also based in Busan.
 
During the 1950s, Busan produced Korea's first woman director Park Nam-ok (1923-2017), best known for her film "The Widow" in 1955; The Korean Association of Film Critics Awards was established in the city; and dozens of movies were shot there.
 
Today, the Busan Cinema Center stands proud in Haeundae District as a landmark of the city with large, undulating ceilings featuring a swath of LED lights. First opened in 2011, the venue was designed by world-renowned Austrian architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au. Its "flying roof," sustained by a single column, holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest of its kind, measuring slightly over 162 meters (531 feet).
 
The center was established for the annual BIFF, but it also opens year-round, screening old or independent films and holding seminars and exhibitions about cinema.
 
Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, best known for films like "In the Mood for Love" (2000) and Marvel Studios' "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021), attended last year's BIFF and recalled his experience at the same event in 1997, when there was no Busan Cinema Center, and the event was held at an open square in Nampo-dong, now called BIFF Square.
 
"I remember the roads to the opening ceremony being much narrower, and they were crowded with many passionate movie fans that I think I even lost a shoe on the way!" he said during the event's press conference last October. "I see that the city's scenery has since then become much more modern. It is great to see the picturesque seaside and the urban landscape of Busan, and again, feel the tremendous energy of the cinema lovers here."
 
Considering all of Busan's merits as a cinematic hub of Asia, the Korea Film Council's public relations team manager Lee Gun-chang said that Busan is undoubtedly a charming city, capable of hosting the next World Expo in 2030.  
 
"It is home to Asia's largest film festival, has great scenery combining city and seaside as well as the country's largest indoor film studio, and industrial complex Centum City,” said Lee. "These cultural aspects of Busan make it an attractive city to host the next World Expo."
 
Busan has been a popular shooting location thanks to its distinctive versatility.
 
Three critically acclaimed Korean-language films released last year — "Decision to Leave" directed by Park Chan-wook, "Broker" by Hirokazu Kore-eda and "Hunt" by Lee Jung-jae — all feature scenes shot in Busan.
 
More than 180 films have been shot at Busan Cinema Studios over the last 21 years, including five films that surpassed the local box office milestone of selling 10 million tickets — "TaeGukGi: Brotherhood of War" (2004) by Kang Je-kyu, "Tidal Wave" (2009) and "Ode to My Father" (2014) by Yoon Je-kyun, "Train to Busan" (2016) by Yeon Sang-ho and "A Taxi Driver" (2017) by Jang Hoon.
 
Japanese director Kore-eda, who is behind the 2022 film "Broker," which was partly shot in Busan, described the city as one full of "contrast."
 
"When I was doing some research about Busan before filming there, I learned that it had a lot of different scenery and wanted to translate the city's versatility into the movie," he said in a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
 
The cast and crew of "Broker" filmed at some 13 locations in Busan, including quaint neighborhoods such as Yeonsan-dong, Jeonpo-dong and Dadaepo Beach, famous for its sunsets.
 
A set from Marvel’s “Black Panther” (2018), which was shot at Busan’s major landmarks including Jagalchi Market, the largest seafood market in Korea and Haeundae District. [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

A set from Marvel’s “Black Panther” (2018), which was shot at Busan’s major landmarks including Jagalchi Market, the largest seafood market in Korea and Haeundae District. [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

 
Marvel Studios' "Black Panther" (2018) also picked the port city's Gwangalli area as a shooting location. The creatives who visited Busan in 2016 said that they were taken by Gwangan Bridge's elaborate night lights and the city's dynamic energy, according to Busan Film Commission.
 
"The beaches and the city's modern and traditional architecture meld beautifully," director Ryan Coogler told the local press in 2018. "The scenery reminds me much of my hometown in northern California."
 
Busan Film Council said it hopes to launch various projects this year to take a step further and take Busan to the next level as a global city for filming and video content. Its plans include providing an opportunity for production companies to meet renowned Asian directors during BIFF to talk about business projects and increasing the possibilities of content creation through collaboration, especially on shoots in Busan.
 
"We plan to diversify and advance our global business to transform Busan from a 'City of Films' into a 'City of Film and Video Content,'" Kang Sung-kyu, head of the Busan Film Commission, said.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE, LEE JIAN [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]
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