[Edaily Starin Choi Hee-jae Reporter] Director Lee Chang-dong is returning to the stage of the world’s most prestigious film festival with his new film, “Possible Love.”

The 83rd Venice International Film Festival opens on the 2nd (local time) on the Lido Island in Venice, Italy. Director Lee Chang-dong’s film “Possible Love” has been invited to the Feature Film Competition section. Director Lee will compete against other master filmmakers for the “Golden Lion,” the festival’s top prize.
This year’s competition section features a large number of new works by world-renowned directors, including Director Lee. Notable titles include Hirokazu Kore-eda’s *Look Back*, Danny Boyle’s *Ink*, *Company* directed by Hollywood actor Casey Affleck, *Bucking Pasted* starring Kate Mara and Rooney Mara, and Martin McDonagh’s *Wild Horse Nine*.
If Director Lee wins for *Possible Love*, it will mark his second trophy, following *Oasis* 24 years ago. In 2002, Director Lee advanced to the competition section with *Oasis* and won the Best Director Award, which corresponds to the Silver Lion. Moon So-ri received the Best New Actress Award, and the film also won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Prize, earning recognition for both its artistic merit and directorial prowess.
Following Director Park Chan-wook’s *I Can’t Help It* last year, Korean cinema has achieved the remarkable feat of being invited to the Venice Film Festival’s main competition for two consecutive years. Given that Director Park narrowly missed winning an award last year, all eyes in the domestic and international film communities are now focused on whether Director Lee will take home a trophy.
If Director Lee were to win an award in this year’s Venice Competition, it would mark the first time a Korean filmmaker has won at the Venice Film Festival in 14 years, since the late Director Kim Ki-duk took home the Golden Lion for *Pieta* in 2012.
*Possible Love* is Director Lee Chang-dong’s new film, his first in eight years since *Burning*. It tells the story of two couples—a laid-off worker and his wife, and a documentary director and her husband—who meet to produce a documentary and are confronted with each other’s different lives and hidden desires.
The cast also heightens anticipation. Actors Jeon Do-yeon (as Mi-ok) and Seol Kyung-gu (as Ho-seok) play one couple, while Jo In-sung (as Sang-woo) and Jo Yeo-jeong (as Ye-ji) portray the other.
“Possible Love,” a Netflix film, will be released globally on the streaming platform on November 6. Ahead of that, it is scheduled for a limited theatrical release in select theaters in South Korea on the 23rd of this month, giving Korean audiences an early chance to see it.
With its hybrid release strategy spanning both theaters and online video services (OTT), all eyes are on how *Possible Love* will be received in Venice and whether Director Lee Chang-dong will win the Golden Lion Award for the first time in 24 years.