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Director Lee Chang-dong, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for the film "Possible Love

," poses at the closing ceremony of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, 

held in Venice, Italy, on the 12th (local time). <AP/Newsis>

Lee Chang-dong's "Possible Love" has won the Grand Jury Prize in the competition section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Lee received the Silver Lion trophy at the closing ceremony held at the Palazzo del Cinema on Lido island in Venice, Italy, on the 12th, local time. 

The Grand Jury Prize is the official award ranked immediately below the Golden Lion, the festival's top honor. "Possible Love" had earlier also received the FIPRESCI Prize. Awarded outside the festival's official prize structure, the FIPRESCI Prize is an independent critics' award selected and presented by a separate jury of critics belonging to the International Federation of Film Critics; it was announced on the 12th via the federation's website. 

Two Couples Entangled by a Documentary Shoot — Starring Sul Kyung-gu, Jeon Do-yeon, Cho Yeo-jeong and Zo In-sung 

"Possible Love" is Lee Chang-dong's first feature in eight years, following "Burning" (2018). Ho-seok, a laid-off worker, and his wife Mi-ok meet Ye-ji, a documentary filmmaker seeking to capture them on camera, and her wealthy husband Sang-woo. Brought together by the shoot, the two couples come to confront their differing conditions of life and the desires each of them has kept hidden. Sul Kyung-gu plays Ho-seok, Jeon Do-yeon plays Mi-ok, Cho Yeo-jeong plays Ye-ji, and Zo In-sung plays Sang-woo. Lee Chang-dong co-wrote the screenplay with writer Oh Jung-mi.

 In his acceptance speech, Lee Chang-dong said, "I made this film to ask what cinema can do, and what cinema must do, in an age when labor is disappearing and the connections between people are being severed." At the press conference following the ceremony, he added that he had thought a great deal about how the suffering of others can be captured on film. Speaking at the same event, Hong Kong director Johnnie To, a member of the competition jury, singled out the work as the most mature film of Lee Chang-dong's career. 

First Venice Award in 24 Years, Since "Oasis" in 2002

This is the first time a Korean film has won an award in the festival's competition section in 14 years, since Kim Ki-duk's "Pieta" took the Golden Lion in 2012. Lee Chang-dong won the Best Director prize (Silver Lion) in 2002 with "Oasis," and Moon So-ri, who starred in that film, received the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best new young performer at the same edition. The FIPRESCI Prize likewise marks a first in 24 years, following "Oasis." 

More than a decade ago, Lee Chang-dong had prepared, and then halted, a film about mass layoffs at a large corporation, also to star Sul Kyung-gu and Jeon Do-yeon. Of this latest award, he said, "Some people are disappointed that it wasn't the Golden Lion, but for me this is enough." 

"Possible Love" has been selected as Korea's submission in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. It has also been invited to the Special Presentations section of the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, and is reported to be heading afterward to major festivals including New York, Busan, Zurich and London. In Korea it opens in select theaters on September 23, and will be released on Netflix on November 6.

Sources

• The Kyunghyang Shinmun, “Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love Wins FIPRESCI Prize at Venice Film Festival,” 2026.09.12

• The Seoul Shinmun, “Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love Takes the Silver Lion in Venice,” 2026.09.13

• The Kyunghyang Shinmun, “Lee Chang-dong Holds the Silver Lion Again, 24 Years On,” 2026.09.13

• Segye Ilbo, “Lee Chang-dong on His Venice Silver Lion 24 Years Later: ‘This Is Enough for Me,’” 2026.09.13