The Pusan International FilmFestival (PIFF) has unveiled details of the full-scale film market it plans tolaunch this year - the Asian Film Market (AFM) - which takes place during the11th edition of the festival from Oct 15-18.

The four-day market has anew venue at the Grand Hotel in the Haeundae beach area of the city of Busan (the new name for Pusan). When first announced, the market was to be held inthe cavernous Busan Exhibition & Convention Centre (BEXCO).

The market will take overaround 150 rooms in the Grand Hotel while screenings will be held in the10-screen Megabox multiplex also in Haeundae.

While the new plan sees aslight scaling down in terms of numbers of companies, it should also enable themarket to maintain some of the relaxed atmosphere of PIFF's existing projectsmarket, the Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP).

According to the organisers,the AFM will be a total market, covering financing, production, post-productionand sales. It will also focus on supporting international co-productions withservices such as meeting places and portfolio books.

"At the Asian Film Market, participantswill have the opportunity to engage in every aspect of the Asian film businessat relatively low cost," said Park Kwang-su, co-director of the market along withPIFF director Kim Dong-ho.

The event joins a crowdedcalendar for sales agents and buyers taking place shortly after Venice and Toronto and just weeks before the other AFM - the AmericanFilm Market - in November. But organisers say it will be more focused on Asianproduct than these other events.

In addition, the PPP isundergoing a major expansion. To be held as part of the AFM, the PPP will beexpanded from three to four days and the number of selected projects willincrease from 27 last year to around 40 this year. A limited number of projectswill be sourced from outside Asia.

The market will alsoencompass another existing event, the locations showcase BIFCOM. The 11thedition of the Pusan film festival will be held October 12-20.