Lee Chang-dong Wins at Venice After 24 Years: “I Want to Connect More Deeply with Audiences”

[Financial News] Director Lee Chang-dong has won an award at the Venice International Film Festival for his film ‘Possible Love,’ marking his first Venice honor in 24 years.
At a press conference for the winners of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, held on the island of Lido in Venice, Italy, on the 12th local time, Lee said, "I think we are living in an era when filmmakers are thinking more deeply about cinema. When people find it difficult to gather in theaters and the relationships they once shared through films are being severed, we have no choice but to consider what kind of films we should make."
He continued, "Going forward, I want to connect more deeply with audiences, and I hope my questions can meet the thoughts of the audience. I believe this award is meant to encourage that."
‘Possible Love’ received the Grand Jury Prize, the festival’s second-highest award, in the competition section that day. It had been 24 years since Lee won the Best Director award at the Venice International Film Festival for ‘Oasis’ in 2002.
The film also incorporates a question Lee has carried for many years: “How should cinema deal with the suffering of others?” It follows Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu) and Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon), a married couple whose lives are thrown into turmoil by mass layoffs at a major corporation, as well as Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), a documentary filmmaker who records their lives, and her husband Sang-woo (Zo In-sung).
Lee explained that the film originated with a mass-layoff crisis at a major corporation in South Korea more than a decade ago. He was deeply shocked while watching the workers’ strike and the forced crackdown, but he also questioned whether he had the right to turn their story into a film. As a result, he was unable to develop it into a project for many years.
He said, "There are times when films take the suffering of others, or the stories of people who are suffering, and consume them for the sake of cinema. As someone who makes films, I thought deeply about how I could portray another person’s suffering in a film."
Lee also shared an anecdote involving actress Cho Yeo-jeong during the award process. He said he had bought a “good dream” that Cho Yeo-jeong had dreamed before the ceremony, adding, "There is such a custom in Korea. I think that dream brought this good fortune."
Meanwhile, ‘Possible Love’ will be released in select theaters in South Korea on the 23rd.
[email protected] Lee Dong-hyuk Reporter