The newly renamed Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has announced changes in its main venues and the foundation of a subsidiary research lab in addition to changes in official names.

The festival’s main venue is moving to the new Busan Cinema Center. The long-anticipated cultural centre is due to complete construction this Sept. and the fest’s opening ceremony will take place there.

Busan Cinema Center will have four screening venues including a multi-functional theatre with a seating capacity of 833 and an outdoor screen with 4,000 seats. The Center will also house the Cinematheque Busan and the fest’s main office.

Also, the Asian Film Market is moving from hotels in Haeundae to BEXCO, Busan’s exhibition and convention center at Centum City.

The Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) has also been renamed the Asian Project Market (APM) and the fest’s official website has been changed to www.biff.kr. (It will be linked to the previous www.piff.org as well.)

BIFF has also founded a subsidiary film industry lab to study the long-term development of the Korean film industry. The lab will plan various academic events and educational programs such as in-depth international seminars, forums and conferences. It will also publish an academic journal for global film professionals.

The organizing committee also confirmed a total budget of $8.79m (KW9.9bn) for the fest, the same as last year. The budget is made up of $1.33m (KW1.5bn) in government funds, $5.22m (KW5.9bn) in Busan city funds, and the rest in expected income from the festival itself.

The fest’s 16th edition will run Oct 6 – 14, with the Asian Film Market and Asian Project market running Oct 10 – 13.

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