A family of laid-off workers cross paths with a documentary filmmaking couple, who wish to film the workers lives. As their paths continue to cross, desires and impulses buried deep within begin to stir and swell into turbulent waves, reshaping the possibilities of both life and love. Possible Love neither hastily pits capitalist against worker nor conveniently divides fiction from documentary, and it resists prying open the carefully layered inner lives of its characters. Lee Chang-dong slowly explores his characters and spaces, moving through subtle glances and fleeting expressions, between hollow laughter and cynicism, kindness and division, constraint and freedom. Even when birdsong in the forest awakens desire and they are not easily seized by it; even waves that offer a space of liberation cannot bridge the gap between desire and dignity; and the pitiful howl of an animal echoing through the forest promises no better life. And yet, when Possible Love comes to rest before a bright full moon and a rainbow cast by sunlight on flowing water, you come to believe that an ordinary love between ordinary people is indeed possible. This is thanks to Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung, and Cho Yeo-jeong, who threw themselves into the film with faith in the power of worldly life, emotion, and raw instinct.
Lee Chang-dong expanded his career from novelist to film director by making his debut with Green Fish (1997). Most of his works have been invited to major international film festivals. He won the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival for Oasis (2002), the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for Secret Sunshine (2007), the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival for Poetry (2010), and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Burning (2019). Possible Love won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2026 Venice Film Festival. He is one of South Korea′s leading master directors who has built international renown through his profound cinematic world.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
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