Busan Cinema Center

The Busan International Film Festival grew from a modest 1996 edition into the largest film event in Asia, and in 2011 it got a building to match. Designed by the Austrian practice Coop Himmelb(l)au, the Cinema Center is defined by its Big Roof - a cantilever reaching about eighty-five metres with no supporting column at its far end, once cited as the longest of its kind - with the underside covered in roughly a hundred thousand LEDs that run animated displays after dark over an open plaza. The Big Roof measures some 163 by 60 metres and weighs about 6,400 tonnes, and the centre, also called Dureraum, opened on 29 September 2011 after nearly three years of building. Beneath it are indoor cinemas, a four-thousand-seat outdoor theatre used for the festival's opening and closing, an archive and a cinematheque showing repertory programmes year round. The plaza is free and lit nightly, which makes it worth an evening even outside October. During the festival the surrounding district and Haeundae fill and tickets go quickly.

What to look for

• The Big Roof - the 85-metre cantilever and its LED underside.
• The nightly light show - the roof animated after dark, free.
• The outdoor theatre - four thousand seats for the festival galas.
• The cinematheque - repertory programming through the year.

When to go

October for the festival, booking well ahead. Otherwise any evening for the roof display and the cinematheque. Closed Mondays for some facilities.

Good to know

Outside the festival it is an ordinary multiplex with an extraordinary roof - the building is the attraction. Festival screenings sell out fast and accommodation in Haeundae is priced accordingly.

Nearby

Haeundae beach, Centum City and the Busan Museum of Art are close.

Key facts