[Anchor]
Director Lee Chang-dong's film "Possible Love" has won the Grand Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. This marks his return to the winners' podium with a Silver Lion 24 years after taking home the Best Director award in 2002. Director Lee's acceptance speech also left a profound resonance.
Correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports from Venice.
[Reporter]
[Maggie Gyllenhaal / Venice Film Festival Jury President: The Grand Jury Prize goes to "Possible Love" by Director Lee Chang-dong.]
The Grand Jury Prize at this year's Venice Film Festival, the world's oldest film festival, was awarded to "Possible Love" by Director Lee Chang-dong.
Though well past the age of 70, the master director remained shy and humble as he accepted the Silver Lion trophy.
However, his acceptance speech carried a heavy weight.
[Lee Chang-dong / Director of "Possible Love": In an era where labor is disappearing, and human-to-human connections are being severed, I made this film to ask what cinema can do and what cinema must do.]
The Grand Jury Prize is the second most prestigious award following the Golden Lion, the festival's highest honor.
Having previously won the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival in 2002 for his film "Oasis," Director Lee has now won the Silver Lion once again with "Possible Love," his first new feature in 8 years, 24 years later.
This marks the first time in 14 years that a South Korean film has won an award in the competition section of the Venice Film Festival, following the late director Kim Ki-duk's "Pieta," which won the Golden Lion in 2012.
"Possible Love" uses the recording act of a documentary filmmaker as a starting point to explore the suffering of a couple whose lives are shaken by mass layoffs at a major corporation.
Prior to this win, the film also received the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Award, repeatedly affirming its artistic merit, and has been submitted to the U.S. Academy Awards scheduled for next March.
[I have high expectations for whether the story we tried to tell in the film will be shared with the audience and resonate with each other.]
This year's Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival was awarded to Director Maïwenn's "Woman Unknown," set in Denmark during World War II, while the Silver Lion for Best Director went to Director Ilya Khrzhanovsky for "DAU."
After stopping by the Toronto International Film Festival, Director Lee Chang-dong's "Possible Love" is set to meet domestic audiences for the first time starting on the 23rd.
(Camera Reporter: Kim Si-nae, Video Editing: Choi Hye-ran)
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