Emergency Non-Commercial Film Theater 'Seoul Cinematheque' Established in Chungmuro in 2022

Dedicated Screening Rooms for Independent, Art, and Classic Films
Utilizing Jung-gu Chodong Public Parking Lot Site

Total Project Cost of 26.5 Billion KRW
3 Basement Floors to 10 Above Ground Floors... Total Floor Area 4,800㎡

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] 'Seoul Cinematheque (tentative name)', a dedicated non-commercial film theater, will open in March 2022 in Chungmuro, the heart of Korean film history.

On the 5th, Seoul City announced that a dedicated screening hall for independent, art, and classic films will be built on the site of the public parking lot in Chodong, Jung-gu.

The construction of a dedicated non-commercial film theater has been a long-standing wish of the film industry. Proposed at the 2013 Seoul City Video Industry Policy Forum, it faced difficulties due to site selection and budget issues. Later, Jung-gu provided the Chodong public parking lot site (38 Chodong Mareunnae-ro) free of charge, and Seoul City decided to proceed with the construction, accelerating the plan. The building will be 3 basement floors to 10 above-ground floors (total floor area 4,800㎡) with a total project cost of 26.5 billion KRW.

Seoul Cinematheque will be constructed based on the design 'Montage 4:5', which won the international design competition. The architect Jo Minseok, who designed the winning work, is an architect who received the Golden Lion Award at the 14th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition.

Three screening rooms of large, medium, and small sizes will be created in Seoul Cinematheque, focusing on films that are difficult to encounter in general theaters. Additionally, a 'Film Archive' will be established to serve as a film library and storage room, preserving valuable film reels and books, and making them accessible to anyone. A 'Video Media Center' will also be created, offering film production education programs and video equipment rental, allowing people to make films themselves.

The groundbreaking ceremony was not held due to concerns over the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.