# Lee Chang-dong returns to filmmaking at Venice as Bangladeshi film bows

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/venice-film-festival-2026-marks-historic-bangladeshi-premiere-and-korean-auteurs-return-after-eight-year-hiatus/
- Published: 2026-09-05T11:09:51+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-05T17:14:40+00:00
- Topics: Americas, Asia, Entertainment, Film, World

## Key points

- Lee Chang-dong ends eight-year hiatus with Possible Love at Venice
- Film explores labour rights via intertwined couples' stories
- Netflix release: cinemas 23 October, streaming from 6 November

## Summary

South Korean director Lee Chang-dong has ended an eight-year hiatus from feature filmmaking with Possible Love, which premiered in Competition at the Venice Film Festival, running alongside Rubaiyat Hossain's The Difficult Bride, the first Bangladeshi film selected for the festival's Horizons section. Lee, whose last feature was 2018's Burning, told Deadline his prolonged absence stemmed from "pathological timidity" and lingering doubt over whether he was the right person to tell a story rooted in labour rights, having initially shelved the project before returning to it with co-writer Oh Jung-mi.

The nearly three-hour film stars Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu as a married couple whose lives become entangled with a documentary filmmaker, played by Cho Yeo-jeong, and her wealthy husband, played by Zo In-sung, after Sul's character loses his job. Inspired by a real Korean conglomerate's mass layoffs and the strike that followed, the film also pays tribute to Krzysztof Kieślowski's Dekalog and explores filmmakers' ethical responsibility when depicting others' suffering. Netflix will release Possible Love in cinemas on 23 October before it streams from 6 November.

## Coverage

- [Variety: Rubaiyat Hossain on Bodies, Beauty and Venice, Toronto and London-Bound ‘The Difficult Bride,’ Clip Unveiled (EXCLUSIVE)](https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/rubaiyat-hossain-difficult-bride-1236851501/)
- [Deadline: Lee Chang-dong On His Eight-Year Hiatus & Confident Return With Venice Competition Title ‘Possible Love’](https://deadline.com/2026/09/lee-chang-dong-possible-love-venice-netflix-1237067951/)

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