Hollywood waves goodbye, makes room for 2 film houses
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The Hollywood Theater in northern Seoul has officially closed its doors and will make way for two film houses specializing in cult, classic and art house flicks.
The Film Forum and Seoul Art Cinema will begin utilizing Hollywood's three-screen theater beginning this month. Seoul Art Cinema will begin its run on April 15 and occupy one screen while Film Forum, managed by film company Emotion Pictures, will begin its program April 22 on two screens.
The Hollywood Theater enjoyed widespread popularity when it first opened in 1969 at its unique rooftop location in Nakwon-dong with just one screen. It was one of Seoul's major cinemas throughout the 1970s but attendance began to dwindle in the 1990s due to the emergence of newer and larger movie theaters. Despite the addition of two more screens in 1997, the Hollywood was hard pressed to compete with a burgeoning multiplex business that included monolithic competitors like CGV and Artreon.
The Hollywood's revamp comes at a timely moment for Seoul Art Cinema. Formerly located in the basement of ArtSonje Center in Sogyeok-dong, the small cinema house was in search of a new home after ArtSonje decided not to renew its contract this year. Seoul Art Cinema has mainly focused on showing art house, independent and classic films. It will start off with a "Cinephile's Feast" on March 15 with showings of three film classics: Michael Curtiz's "Casablanca", David Lean's "Doctor Zhivago", and Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura".
Film Forum will specialize in showing cult and art house movies. Its film lineup will be organized by Im Jae-cheol, a former programmer at the Gwangju Film Festival. Film Forum will kick off its program on April 22 with Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Clouds of May", acerbic French director Chantal Akerman's "La Captive" and famed Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira's "Anxiety". After May, Film Forum plans on showing films by Jean Luc Goddard and Federico Fellini that have never before been screened in Korea.
By Iris Moon
The Film Forum and Seoul Art Cinema will begin utilizing Hollywood's three-screen theater beginning this month. Seoul Art Cinema will begin its run on April 15 and occupy one screen while Film Forum, managed by film company Emotion Pictures, will begin its program April 22 on two screens.
The Hollywood Theater enjoyed widespread popularity when it first opened in 1969 at its unique rooftop location in Nakwon-dong with just one screen. It was one of Seoul's major cinemas throughout the 1970s but attendance began to dwindle in the 1990s due to the emergence of newer and larger movie theaters. Despite the addition of two more screens in 1997, the Hollywood was hard pressed to compete with a burgeoning multiplex business that included monolithic competitors like CGV and Artreon.
The Hollywood's revamp comes at a timely moment for Seoul Art Cinema. Formerly located in the basement of ArtSonje Center in Sogyeok-dong, the small cinema house was in search of a new home after ArtSonje decided not to renew its contract this year. Seoul Art Cinema has mainly focused on showing art house, independent and classic films. It will start off with a "Cinephile's Feast" on March 15 with showings of three film classics: Michael Curtiz's "Casablanca", David Lean's "Doctor Zhivago", and Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura".
Film Forum will specialize in showing cult and art house movies. Its film lineup will be organized by Im Jae-cheol, a former programmer at the Gwangju Film Festival. Film Forum will kick off its program on April 22 with Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Clouds of May", acerbic French director Chantal Akerman's "La Captive" and famed Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira's "Anxiety". After May, Film Forum plans on showing films by Jean Luc Goddard and Federico Fellini that have never before been screened in Korea.
By Iris Moon
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