Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' wins Venice Jury Prize — first Korean film to do so

Korea's first Venice Jury Prize, 14 years in the making

Director Lee Chang-dong's Ganeunghan Sarang (Possible Love) won the Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. The closing ceremony took place September 12 at Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido island in Venice.

This marks the first Jury Prize for a Korean film at Venice. It's also the first time any Korean film has won in the competition section since Kim Ki-duk's Pieta took the Golden Lion in 2012—a 14-year gap. For Lee, the win comes 24 years after his last Venice prize. In 2002, Oasis earned him the Silver Lion for Best Director, and lead actress Moon So-ri won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Actor.

The film premiered at Venice on September 6 and drew a 7-minute standing ovation. Before the closing ceremony on September 12, the International Film Critics Association (FIPRESCI) also named it the winner of its competition-section prize. The FIPRESCI citation read: "It depicts subtle power dynamics with perfect pacing and multiple layers. It explores exploitation, class, love, desire, ownership, and the ethics of storytelling."

Eight years after Burning, a Netflix debut

Possible Love is Lee Chang-dong's first film in eight years since Burning (2018) and his first Netflix production. The story follows a documentary director (Cho Yeo-jeong) with a wealthy husband (Cho In-sung) who films the lives of a laid-off worker (Sul Kyung-gu) and his wife (Jeon Do-yeon). Four people from different class backgrounds end up confronting each other's lives and hidden desires.

Accepting the Jury Prize, Lee credited his cast directly:

"I am grateful to the four actors Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Cho In-sung, and Cho Yeo-jeong who gave life to this film. This award is yours."

He also thanked co-screenwriter Oh Jung-mi "for reviving a story that had to be put away long ago and creating this story together." Lee framed the film's purpose around a question: "In an era where labor is disappearing and relationships between people are being severed, I made this film to ask what cinema can do and what it must do."

The Golden Lion went to director Mai El-Touki's Woman Unknown. Ilya Khrzhanovsky won the Silver Lion for Best Director for Dau.