Anyone who encountered *Possible Love* in different winners’ lists from the 83rd Venice Film Festival was not looking at three versions of the same result. Lee Chang-dong’s feature won the Grand Jury Prize in the official competition and was also selected, independently, by FIPRESCI’s international critics and Arca CinemaGiovani. Distinguishing these bodies is essential to understanding the film’s achievement without turning three separate distinctions into a single verdict.
An award within the official competition
Presented under the Korean title *Ga-neung-han sa-rang*, *Possible Love* competed in Venezia 83. The official jury, chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal and also composed of Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To, considered all 21 films in competition.
According to the Biennale’s official awards list, the South Korean film received the Silver Lion — Grand Jury Prize. The Golden Lion for best film went to May el-Toukhy’s *Kvinde Ukendt (Woman Unknown)*. The prize for *Possible Love* was therefore a decision by the competition’s central jury, but it was not the festival’s top award.
FIPRESCI and Arca CinemaGiovani are separate distinctions
The other two results appear in the collateral-awards list. The Biennale itself explains that these distinctions are independently conferred by associations of film critics, film clubs, cultural organizations and cinema professionals; they are not part of the awards decided by the official jury.
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) selected *Possible Love* as the best film from Venezia 83. Arca CinemaGiovani, associated with ARCA — the recreational, cultural and sports association for employees of the Enel group and affiliated companies — also named it the competition’s best film. Both selections and the organizations responsible are recorded in the 83rd edition’s collateral-awards list.
The precise description is consequently one official award and two independent collateral awards. The consulted pages record the winners, but provide no individual citations explaining why each group voted for the film.
What “Possible Love” is about
The drama follows two married couples who cross paths to make a documentary. One consists of a laid-off worker and his wife; the other, of a documentary filmmaker and her spouse. Their encounter brings their different ways of living and concealed desires into confrontation.
The premise connects the couples’ private lives with pressures surrounding work. In the statement published by the Biennale, Lee Chang-dong says he began considering the project after a mass layoff and the violent suppression of a strike shook Korean society. He describes hesitating over whether to transform that context into narrative fiction and links the impulse to move toward freedom, even under forces such as labor and capital, to a possible form of love.
That perspective helps viewers read the title without reducing the film to a conventional romance: “possible love” also concerns the desire for freedom and what people ultimately manage to give one another. This is a key offered by the filmmaker himself, not an explanation issued by the award-giving bodies.
Cast, running time and principal crew
The Biennale’s official film page lists a running time of 164 minutes, South Korea as the country of production and Korean as the language. The main cast comprises Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong.
Lee Chang-dong wrote the screenplay with Oh Jung-mi. Kim Ji-yong is the cinematographer, Kim Da-won the editor, Jang Min-woo the production designer and Yi Choong-yun the costume designer. Jung Jaeil composed the music, while Lee Seung-chul and Han Myung-hwan handled sound. Pinehouse Film, Anonymous Content and NOWFILM are listed as production companies.
These details also help distinguish the film from similarly titled works and identify it correctly in international catalogues: look for the Korean title, the director’s name and the 164-minute running time.
What the three results establish
The distinctions trace *Possible Love* across three separate bodies in Venice: the competition’s official jury, FIPRESCI and Arca CinemaGiovani. They do not, however, support attributing one shared motivation to the voters, because the results pages publish no specific arguments behind those choices.
The documented convergence lies in the outcome: all three bodies singled out the same feature within Venezia 83. Readers comparing winners’ lists or following later distribution news should therefore preserve the complete name of each award.
How to follow the film
The supplied official sources confirm its place in the Venice competition, its credits and the three distinctions. Information about further festival selections, commercial releases or availability in individual countries may change, so check the Biennale’s official film page and the relevant festival or distributor channels before planning a screening.
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