TORONTO, September 14, 2026 – Korean director Lee Chang-dong’s new film Possible Love held its North American premiere at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival on September 14. Lee appeared with cast members Zo In-sung, Cho Yeo-jeong, Sol Kyung-gu and other members of the creative team. CCTVmedium interviewed several of the filmmakers and cast members at the event, discussing the film’s themes, character development and filming experience.
Possible Love is Lee’s first feature film in eight years, following his 2018 film Burning. The film was previously selected for the main competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize on September 12. Its Toronto screening marks the film’s first public screening in North America.
The film follows two couples living in very different circumstances. Sol Kyung-gu plays Ho-seok, an unemployed worker, while Jeon Do-yeon plays his wife, Mi-ok. Cho Yeo-jeong plays Ye-ji, a documentary filmmaker, and Zo In-sung plays her husband, Sang-woo. As Ye-ji begins documenting the life of the other couple, the two pairs gradually enter each other’s worlds, and the relationships between marriage, class and personal desire begin to shift.
In an interview with CCTVmedium, Zo said working with Lee made him rethink his own approach to acting. He described Lee as a “master of cinema” and said that in order to enter the world created by the director, he first had to let go of his existing acting habits and understand Lee’s distinctive way of creating and directing.
“I can’t list everything I learned one by one, but for me, this was a very important learning experience,” Zo said, adding that the experience from this collaboration is gradually becoming part of his future performances.
Cho plays documentary filmmaker Ye-ji in the film. She said she is usually used to standing in front of the camera as an actor, but this role allowed her to move to the other side of the camera and actively observe and record other people’s lives. She said that shift gave her a different experience. In her view, the process not only helped her understand Ye-ji, but also allowed her to see the relationship between actors and the camera from a new perspective.
Speaking about the title Possible Love, Lee said it may sound like a simple question, but the answer is not simple.
He said love itself is complex and difficult, and there is no fixed answer to “what kind of love is possible for us.” He hopes audiences will continue thinking about that question after watching the film and eventually bring it back to themselves: what kind of love is possible for each person?
Sol also spoke about working with Lee again after 23 years. The two previously collaborated on the 2002 film Oasis. Sol said that over the years, it was not that there had been no chances to work together again, but those opportunities never truly came together, and he had always looked forward to returning to Lee’s set.
He described being back on Lee’s set as both exciting and nerve-racking, saying it felt as if he had returned to the beginning 23 years ago. During filming, he worked to stay focused while also trying to enjoy the experience of collaborating with the director again.
Possible Love is directed and co-written by Lee Chang-dong. The cast also includes Jeon Do-yeon. The film is scheduled for theatrical release in Canada and other markets on October 23, with a global Netflix release planned for November 6.（LJI by Yuanyuan）
