Busan is good

The city of Busan has cemented its status as a global hub city for visual culture as the successful host of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which has now become a very significant annual event and the most influential film festival in Asia. The city is also focused on fostering the film and media industry in an effort to make it a major industry of Busan in the decades ahead and to provide the local economy with yet another source of growth.

Furthermore, Busan has been host to many successful film-related events for years, including the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), Busan International Advertising Festival (BIAF), Busan International Short Film Festival (BISFF), Busan International Kids & Youth Film Festival (BlKY), and G-STAR, a global gaming exhibition. In addition, the city has worked to open up markets for international film businesses through the Asian Film Market (AFM) and Busan Contents Market (BCM) in order to support the industry and expand its talent base. Busan is growing into Korea’s leading one-stop film industry center for investment, planning, production and the distribution of films.

Along with the Busan Cinema Center, various film-related facilities, like the Busan Post-production Facility, the Busan Community Media Center, and the Busan Culture Contents Complex are located within the Centum Innovation District. Infrastructure for the visual industry has been established for the city to become a leader in film production, the film industry and the popularization of art films. To establish a visual industry cluster together with the public and private sectors, the Busan Visual Industry Center opened in December 2017 and has been successful in attracting dynamic film-related companies.

In addition, the Busan Asian Film School opened in October 2016 with the aim of fostering promising film professionals in Asia, while the Korean Academy of Film Arts, established by the Korean Film Council, relocated to Busan.

The Busan Museum of Movies opened to the public on June 30, 2017 in Nampo-dong, Jung-gu, the historical cradle of Busan’s film-making industry. The museum offers various programs related to films for visitors of all ages to enjoy. With this, it is expected that Busan’s city brand value as a ‘hub of the Asian film industry’ and ‘the most prominent cultural city in Korea’ will soon reach historic heights.