'Venice Silver Lion' Sparks Lee Chang-dong Craze... 'Miryang' and 'Peppermint Candy' Also Head Overseas

[Financial News] Netflix is bringing director Lee Chang-dong's earlier films to audiences around the world after its film 'Possible Love' won the Silver Lion for the Grand Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. The strategy is to channel the heightened interest in Lee following 'Possible Love' toward his acclaimed earlier works, including 'Miryang' and 'Peppermint Candy,' and expand the global K-cinema fan base.
Netflix announced on the 14th that it would gradually expand global streaming availability for several of Lee Chang-dong's major films.
Streaming of 'Green Fish' and 'Miryang' began in late August in Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand. Since the 4th, 'Peppermint Candy' and 'Oasis' have also been available in Italy and Spain. 'Poetry' and 'Burning' are scheduled to be released later in Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Netflix is also providing subtitles in six languages, including Korean and English, to introduce Lee Chang-dong's body of work to a broader global audience. The aim is to draw not only existing film fans but also overseas viewers discovering the director for the first time through 'Possible Love' to his earlier films.
Since making his debut with 'Green Fish' in 1997, Lee Chang-dong has established himself as one of South Korea's leading filmmakers with works including 'Peppermint Candy,' 'Oasis,' 'Miryang,' 'Poetry' and 'Burning.' He won the Best Director award at the Venice International Film Festival for 'Oasis' in 2002 and the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival for 'Poetry' in 2010. More recently, he became the first Korean director to receive the Ebert Director Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and the first Korean to win the Auteur Award at the 49th Mill Valley Film Festival.
'Possible Love,' Lee's first new film in more than seven years, has brought his cinematic world back to the global stage. It follows two couples—a laid-off worker and his wife, and a documentary filmmaker and her husband—who meet to make a documentary and confront each other's different lives and hidden desires.
'Possible Love' won the Silver Lion for the Grand Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. The Korean Film Council selected the film as South Korea's official entry in the International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.
Don Kang, vice president of Korean content at Netflix, said, "We are deeply grateful to the cast and crew of 'Possible Love' for trusting Netflix and working with us, and we sincerely congratulate them on this remarkable achievement, which has written a new chapter in the history of Korean cinema." He added, "As a long-term partner of the Korean film industry, Netflix will continue working to ensure that diverse films are consistently made and reach more fans."
'Possible Love' will open in South Korean theaters on the 23rd, followed by theatrical releases in Australia and New Zealand on the 22nd of next month, and in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Japan on the 23rd. It will be released on Netflix on November 6.
[email protected] Yoon Hong-jip Reporter