Director Lee Chang-dong's "Potential Love" Wins Auteur Award at Mill Valley Following Toronto

Director Lee Chang-dong's Netflix film has drawn global attention to the film industry as it was selected as the Auteur Award winner at the 49th Mill Valley Film Festival, becoming the first Korean filmmaker to receive this honor.

[Director: Lee Chang-dong, Screenplay: Lee Chang-dong, Oh Jung-mi, Production: Fine House Film Co., Ltd., Anonymous Content, Now Film Co., Ltd., Presented by: Netflix] is a work that depicts the story of two couples—a laid-off worker and his wife, and a documentary director and her husband—who meet to create a documentary and face each other's different lives and hidden desires.

was invited to the Spotlight Program at the Mill Valley Film Festival, America's most prestigious film festival organized by the California Film Institute, which highlights original artistic worlds, and has been selected as the recipient of the Auteur Award, which honors distinctive artistic vision and cinematic achievement.

Following successive invitations from prestigious film festivals including Venice, Toronto, New York, San Sebastián, Zurich, and Vancouver, and after becoming the first Korean director to win the TIFF Ebert Director Award at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, the film has continued to deliver victories at global film festivals, proving its distinctive achievement.

The teaser poster released amid global acclaim clearly captures the film's unique atmosphere and the subtle emotional lines of the four characters. Set against a beach at dawn with the moon still visible, the placement of four people occupying the same space yet standing apart, each harboring their own thoughts and stories, arouses curiosity. Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon), who has endured a long time since the layoff, and her husband Ho-seok (Seol Kyung-gu), who still experiences past wounds in the present tense while gazing in the same direction, inspire curiosity about the life the couple dreams of together and their deep inner emotions.

In contrast, Sang-woo (Jo In-sung), who looks elsewhere alone with a leisurely smile, reveals an inner self that is difficult to fathom easily, while Ye-ji (Jo Yeo-jeong), standing with a camera observing the characters, adds anticipation to what kind of ripples her sincerity and passion for completing her documentary will create within the complex relationships of the four people.

, Director Lee Chang-dong's new work in eight years that draws attention with a meeting of talented actors, will arrive at theaters on September 23rd and then reach viewers worldwide through Netflix on November 6th.