Lee Chang-dong’s Netflix New Film “A Possible Love”… Invited to the Venice Film Festival Competition for the First Time in 24 Years, Battling for the Golden Lion

A 24-year return as a master filmmaker’s gaze turns back to Venice

Director Lee Chang-dong, an unrivaled master in Korea’s film industry, launches a grand journey for the Golden Lion after his new film “A Possible Love” received an official invitation to the competitive category of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.

On the 23rd, the Venice Film Festival’s executive committee announced in a surprise move 20 competing entries, including “A Possible Love”, through an official press conference. The move follows last year’s achievement by Director Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Break Up”, marking a win for the second consecutive year and bringing a historic feat: it is the 12th time a Korean film has entered the competition section in Korean film history. In particular, Lee Chang-dong’s arrival at Venice draws worldwide attention, as it marks an encounter after a staggering 24 years since “Oasis”, which swept the Directing Award and the New Actor Award in 2002.

An aesthetic of fracture and desire—an ensemble completed by Netflix and a Golden lineup

Lee’s new film “A Possible Love”, which breaks an eight-year silence after “Burning” (2018), delves deeply into the story of two couples who become entwined through documentary production. The narrative follows a process in which figures positioned on opposite ends—laid-off workers and their wives, and a documentary director and her husband—face each other’s starkly different lives and hidden desires, rendered with a cold yet delicate touch. Netflix, a global streaming platform, oversaw production, and top-tier actors who represent Korea’s film industry—including Jeon Do-yeon, Sol Kyung-gu, Song Joong-sung, and Cho Yeo-jeong—have joined in large numbers, setting up a powerful synergy.

Alberto Barbera, artistic director of the Venice Film Festival, said, “Lee Chang-dong is one of the greatest cineastes Korea has produced,” and added that, “This work was born after drawing inspiration from an episode in the Polish master Krzysztof Kieślowski’s masterpiece ‘The Decalogue’ (1989).” The anticipation grows over how the gaze of the Polish filmmaker, who explored humanity’s moral dilemmas, might be reinterpreted within Lee Chang-dong’s worldview.

A battle among world masters—aiming to reclaim the top prize in 14 years

This year’s Venice Lido island is expected to become the most intense “war of stars” yet. Japanese master Director Hirokazu Kore-eda also joined the competition with “Look Back”, a live-action adaptation of the namesake manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto. After sweeping through the Cannes International Film Festival last May, he continues to make his mark at Venice as well, showcasing the strength of Asian cinema.

Also, new works by acclaimed auteur directors such as Director Danny Boyle’s “Inks”, Casey Affleck’s “Company”, Director Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Pasture”, and Director Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine” will wage a hot fight for the Golden Lion.

The 83rd Venice Film Festival, boasting the stature of one of the world’s three major film festivals, will open in a grand spectacle from Sept. 2 to 12 (local time). Fourteen years after Director Kim Ki-duk’s “Pieta” lifted the top prize for the first time in Korean film history in 2012, attention is focused on whether Lee Chang-dong’s “A Possible Love” can recreate that moment of glory once again for the global film world.