Korean director-TIFF award

▲ South Korean director Lee Chang-dong is seen in this image provided by Netflix. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong has become the first Korean director to win the TIFF Ebert Director Award, a lifetime achievement honor presented at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Netflix said Thursday that Lee will receive the prize at the festival's annual Tribute Awards ceremony on Sept. 13, recognizing his original vision and cinematic innovation in a career spanning nearly three decades.

The award, named after the late U.S. film critic Roger Ebert, has previously gone to Mexican director Guillermo del Toro; British filmmakers Mike Leigh and Sam Mendes; American director Spike Lee; Canadian director Denis Villeneuve; and Chinese director Chloe Zhao.

The recognition comes as "Possible Love," Lee's first feature in eight years following the critically acclaimed "Burning" (2018), is set to make its North American premiere at the festival, which runs from Sept. 10-20.

Starring Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong, the Netflix-backed film centers on the intertwined lives of two married couples -- a laid-off worker and his wife and an affluent documentary filmmaker and her husband -- and the story that unfolds as they meet.

It will have its world premiere at the 83rd edition of the Venice International Film Festival, scheduled for September before a limited South Korean theatrical release on Sept. 23 and a global Netflix launch on Nov. 6.

Lee, 72, is one of the most decorated directors in Asian cinema, having won best director at Venice for "Oasis" (2002), best screenplay at Cannes for "Poetry" (2010) and the FIPRESCI prize at Cannes for "Burning" (2018).

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