Director Lee Chang-dong holds up his Silver Lion for the Grand Jury Prize, awarded for "Possible Love," at the closing ceremony of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Saturday (local time). [EPA]
Director Lee Chang-dong holds up his Silver Lion for the Grand Jury Prize, awarded for "Possible Love," at the closing ceremony of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Saturday (local time). [EPA]

Director Lee Chang-dong's new film "Possible Love" won the Grand Jury Prize — the Silver Lion — at the Venice International Film Festival, the second-highest honor at the event.

The film was named the Grand Jury Prize winner at the festival's closing ceremony, held Saturday (local time) at the Palazzo del Cinema on Lido island in Venice, Italy.

It is the first time a Korean film has won an award in the main competition at Venice since director Kim Ki-duk's "Pieta" took the Golden Lion in 2012 — a gap of 14 years. It is also the first time a Korean film has won the Grand Jury Prize.

For Lee himself, the win marks his first Venice award in 24 years, since he received the Silver Lion for Best Director for "Oasis" in 2002.

"Oasis" also brought a Best New Emerging Actor award to its lead, Moon So-ri, alongside Lee's directing prize at the time.

Accepting the award, Lee credited his cast. "I am grateful to the four people who gave life to this film — Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Jo In-sung and Jo Yeo-jeong. This award belongs to all of you," he said.

He added: "In an age when labor is disappearing, when the bonds between people are breaking down, I made this film to ask what cinema can do — and what it must do. I take this award as an encouragement to keep asking that question."

"Possible Love" is Lee's first feature since "Burning" (2018) and his first Netflix film, starring Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Jo In-sung and Jo Yeo-jeong.

The film follows a documentary filmmaker (Jo Yeo-jeong) married to a wealthy husband (Jo In-sung) who trains her camera on a laid-off working-class couple (Sul Kyung-gu and Jeon Do-yeon), as people from vastly different class backgrounds come face to face with each other's lives and desires.

Earlier, "Possible Love" had also won the FIPRESCI Prize, awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics, the day before the official awards ceremony.

The top prize, the Golden Lion, went to director Mai El-Toukhy's "Woman Unknown," a film set in Denmark just after World War II that follows a young woman named Marie who conceals a past relationship with a German soldier.

"Woman Unknown" claimed a second prize as well, with lead actor Mathilde Arcel taking the Volpi Cup for Best Actress.

The Silver Lion for Best Director went to Ilya Khrzhanovskiy for "DAU."

The Volpi Cup for Best Actor went to John Malkovich for "Wild Horse Nine."

The Venice International Film Festival, considered one of the world's three major film festivals alongside Cannes and Berlin, is the oldest international film festival in the world, having launched in 1932. Now in its 83rd edition, this year's event ran from Sept. 2 to Saturday on the Lido.


cheon@heraldcorp.com