Lee Chang-dong’s ‘Possible Love’ Wins Venice Grand Jury Prize, Marking Korea’s First Competition Award in 14 Years

[Financial News]  

Director Lee Chang-dong’s film ‘Possible Love’ received the Grand Jury Prize (Silver Lion) at the Venice International Film Festival on the 12th (local time). Fourteen years after director Kim Ki-duk’s ‘Pietà’ won the Golden Lion in 2012, a Korean film once again achieved a major success in the festival’s competition section. The Silver Lion is the festival’s second-highest award after the Golden Lion. The film was announced as the winner at the festival’s closing ceremony, held that day at the Palazzo del Cinema on Venice’s Lido island.
Lee previously won the Best Director award (Silver Lion) for ‘Oasis’ in 2002. Moon So-ri, who starred in the film, also received the Best Newcomer Award at the time.
‘Possible Love’ is Lee’s first new film in eight years since ‘Burning’ (2018), as well as his first Netflix film. It stars Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong.
The film follows a documentary director, played by Cho Yeo-jeong, who is married to a wealthy husband, played by Zo In-sung, as she makes a documentary about the lives of a dismissed-worker couple, played by Sul Kyung-gu and Jeon Do-yeon. It portrays what unfolds when the two couples meet for the film’s production, confront their different lives and discover desires that had remained hidden.
After its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on the 6th, the film received a seven-minute standing ovation. It consistently remained among the top-ranked films in local critics’ ratings.
The festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, went to Danish director May el-Toukhy’s ‘Woman Unknown.’
[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter