{"id":131461,"date":"2026-08-25T11:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T11:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/131461\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T11:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T11:34:10","slug":"south-korea-picks-lee-chang-dongs-possible-love-for-oscar-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/131461\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea Picks Lee Chang-dong’s ‘Possible Love’ for Oscar Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Korean Film Council (KOFIC) has selected \u201cPossible Love,\u201d directed by Lee Chang-dong<\/a>, as South Korea<\/a>\u2018s official entry for the international feature film category at the 2027 Academy Awards.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPossible Love\u201d marks Lee\u2019s first feature in eight years, following \u201cBurning,\u201d \u201cPoetry\u201d and \u201cSecret Sunshine.\u201d The film centers on two married couples whose lives intersect after a funeral: Mi-ok and her laid-off husband Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu), who live quietly with their young son Cheol, and Ye-ji, a filmmaker making a documentary about workers who lost their jobs, and her husband Sang-woo (Zo In-sung). When Mi-ok agrees to be filmed by Ye-ji, the two women grow close, while Mi-ok finds herself unsettled by an attraction to Sang-woo. As the two couples\u2019 worlds overlap, cracks begin to surface in both marriages.<\/p>\n

\n\tA 15-member selection committee, chaired by film critic Jung Sung-il, made the choice. Other committee members included Kang Myung-chan, Kim So-young, Kim Jae-joong, Kim Tae-sung, Kim Hyun-chul, Moon Young-hwa, Song Kyung-won, Won Dong-yeon, Yoo Hyun-taek, Yoon Sung-eun, Lee Han, Lim Dae-hyung, Jung Yi-jun and Cho Hwa-sung.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn its evaluation, the committee cited the film\u2019s polished craftsmanship and the clarity of its directorial vision, pointing to the tone and mise-en-sc\u00e8ne that sustain a sense of pressure throughout the story. The drama was described as prompting reflection on gentle forms of violence, incomplete freedom and the nature of true happiness, alongside a labor movement sequence that the committee said captured layered social undercurrents.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe committee also highlighted the film\u2019s humanism and delicate direction, its dense, multidimensional character relationships, and its meditation on love, desire and original sin. Members called it the culmination of Lee\u2019s perspective and preoccupations as a filmmaker, praising what they described as nearly flawless performances from the four leads.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe committee pointed to the international feature category\u2019s track record of favoring auteur-driven dramas, noting that Lee\u2019s 2018 film \u201cBurning\u201d became the first Korean title to advance to the Academy\u2019s foreign language film shortlist. Members also flagged strong anticipation from North American press and said a Netflix awards team is preparing a campaign for the film that extends to a best picture push.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film\u2019s world premiere will be at the\u00a0Venice Film Festival<\/a>\u00a0and North American Premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnder Academy international feature film category rules, \u201cPossible Love\u201d must complete its local theatrical release in South Korea by Sept. 30. The film will open in Korean theaters Sept. 23, followed by select theatrical releases in Australia Oct. 22 and in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland and Japan Oct. 23, before streaming globally on\u00a0Netflix<\/a>\u00a0starting Nov. 6.<\/p>\n

\n\tSouth Korea has submitted films in the category since 1962 without a nomination for decades, until Lee Chang-dong\u2019s \u201cBurning\u201d became the first Korean film to make the shortlist in 2018. Bong Joon Ho\u2019s \u201cParasite\u201d then won the category and best picture in 2020 \u2013 the first non-English-language film to do so \u2013 and Park Chan-wook\u2019s \u201cDecision to Leave\u201d (2022) and \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d (2025) both reached the shortlist without landing a nomination. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe 99th Academy Awards are scheduled for March 14, 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) has selected \u201cPossible Love,\u201d directed by Lee Chang-dong, as South Korea\u2018s official entry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31,67028,18924],"class_list":["post-131461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","tag-korea","tag-lee-chang-dong","tag-oscars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}