SEOUL, September 13 (AJP) - South Korea's entry for next year's Academy Awards, Lee Chang-dong's "Possible Love," won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Saturday (local time), the first South Korean film to take a prize in the festival's competition section in 14 years.
The award, second only to the Golden Lion, was announced at the closing ceremony at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido. Hours earlier, a separate jury of professional critics had given the film the prize awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics, which judges the competition lineup independently of the festival's own panel. No South Korean film had won the Grand Jury Prize before.
The Korean Film Council selected "Possible Love" as the country's official submission for the best international feature Oscar in late August, weeks before it screened for an audience anywhere. A 15-member committee chaired by film critic Jung Sung-il made the choice, citing Lee's record, the film's construction and the level of interest from North American press. Venice has now delivered the first outside verdict on that bet.
The 99th Academy Awards will be held on March 14, 2027. A film must open commercially in its own country by Sept. 30 to qualify in the international feature category, a deadline "Possible Love" clears with its South Korean release on Sept. 23.
Netflix, which holds worldwide streaming rights, intends to campaign the film for best picture as well, the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) said when it announced the selection.
Lee accepted the prize on stage and read out the names of his four leads before thanking the crew. "Everybody on set who gave life to this film, to all the actors and the staff, thank you," he said. "This award belongs to all of you."
"We are living in an era where the meaning of labor is fading and human connections are increasingly becoming severed. I made this film to ask what cinema can and should do in times like these," Lee said, adding: "I take this award as a sign that you want me to keep asking these questions."
The film follows two married couples whose lives cross over a documentary shoot. Sul Kyung-gu plays Ho-seok, a factory worker who has lost his job, and Jeon Do-yeon plays his wife, Mi-ok. Cho Yeo-jeong plays Ye-ji, a documentary maker filming workers who were laid off, and Zo In-sung plays her affluent husband, Sang-woo. Lee wrote the screenplay with Oh Jung-mi.
It is his first feature in eight years, after "Burning" in 2018. The world premiere on Sept. 6 drew a seven-minute standing ovation.
Taking the jury award and the critics' award together repeats what Lee managed at Venice in 2002, when "Oasis" won the Silver Lion for best director and the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) prize, and Moon So-ri won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for a new young performer.
Lee taught high school Korean and published fiction before he began directing in his 40s, and he served as South Korea's culture minister from 2003 to 2004. His earlier films include "Peppermint Candy" in 2000, "Secret Sunshine" in 2007 and "Poetry" in 2010. Jeon won best actress at Cannes for "Secret Sunshine," and "Poetry" won best screenplay there three years later.
"Possible Love" is the fourth Lee film to carry South Korea's Oscar submission, after "Oasis," "Secret Sunshine" and "Burning." "Burning" became the first South Korean film to reach the international category shortlist, in the 2019 awards season, and missed the final five. A year later, Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" became the country's first nominee and first winner in the category, and the first film not in English to win best picture.
The Golden Lion for best film went to May el-Toukhy's "Woman Unknown," a Danish drama about a woman hiding a wartime relationship with German soldiers, which also won the Volpi Cup for best actress for Mathilde Arcel. Ilya Khrzhanovsky won the Silver Lion for best director for "DAU," and John Malkovich took the Volpi Cup for best actor for "Wild Horse Nine." Maggie Gyllenhaal chaired the jury.
"Possible Love" opens in South Korean theaters on Sept. 23, reaches limited release in the United States on Oct. 23 and streams worldwide on Netflix on Nov. 6.
AJP Takeaways
- The Venice International Film Festival's competition jury, chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal, awarded the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize to Lee Chang-dong's "Possible Love" at the closing ceremony on the Lido on Saturday, the first South Korean film to take a prize in the festival's competition section in 14 years and the first ever to win that award.
- The Korean Film Council selected "Possible Love" as South Korea's official submission for the best international feature Oscar in late August, weeks before the film screened for an audience anywhere, and said Netflix intends to campaign it for best picture as well. That selection material comes from the council's own announcement rather than from the festival's awards release.
- The International Federation of Film Critics gave "Possible Love" its prize for the competition lineup hours before the closing ceremony, pairing the jury and critics awards in the same way Lee's "Oasis" did at Venice in 2002.
- Netflix will stream the film worldwide on Nov. 6, following its South Korean theatrical opening on Sept. 23 and a limited United States release on Oct. 23.
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