Lee Chang-dong becomes first Korean recipient of Mill Valley Film Festival Auteur Award

Lee Chang-dong is set to become the first Korean filmmaker to receive the Auteur Award at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Netflix announced that the director will receive the honor at the festival's 49th edition.

His new film, Possible Love, has been selected for the festival's Spotlight program. Organized by the California Film Institute, the program presents new work by filmmakers who have developed distinctive artistic worlds. The Auteur Award recognizes a filmmaker's body of work and cinematic achievements.

Possible Love has also been invited to the competition section at the Venice Film Festival, as well as festivals in Toronto, New York, San Sebastián, Zurich and Vancouver. Lee was previously selected to receive the Ebert Director Award at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Awards.

The film centers on two married couples who meet to make a documentary: a dismissed worker and his wife, and a documentary director and her husband. Their encounter brings them face to face with different lives and hidden desires.

A teaser poster released Sept. 3 shows Mi-ok, Ho-seok, Sang-woo and Ye-ji standing apart on a beach at dawn. Ye-ji holds a camera while watching the others. The film marks Lee's first feature in eight years, following Burning. Lee co-wrote the screenplay with Oh Jung-mi, and South Korea selected the film as its submission for the international feature category at the 99th Academy Awards. Possible Love opens in South Korean cinemas on the 23rd and arrives on Netflix on Nov. 6.