[FEATURED PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons — “Jeon Do-yeon at the 2026 New York Film Festival 02.jpg” — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jeon_Do-yeon_at_the_2026_New_York_Film_Festival_02.jpg] Jeon Do-yeon at the 64th New York Film Festival, Alice Tully Hall, September 27, 2026. Photo: LR.127 / WikiPortraits / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
On Wednesday evening, November 4, 2026, at Cinematheque KOFA in Seoul, Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love won Best Film at the 46th Korean Film Critics Association Awards, the Yeongpyeong Awards, and Jeon Do-yeon won Best Actress for playing Mi-ok, the wife of a laid-off worker. Na Hong-jin’s Hope took three prizes, including Best Actor for Zo In-sung, Jeon’s Possible Love co-star (JTBC; Sports Hankook, Nov. 4, 2026). Jeon took the stage and said: “Every time, with every film, the Best Actress in my heart was always me” (JTBC, Nov. 4, 2026).
I’ll be honest: as a fan, I had to stop and read that sentence twice, and then I just sat there smiling. Two days before the whole world can watch Possible Love on Netflix, the critics have already called it the best Korean film of the year, and its star answered with a line I’m going to be quoting for a long time.
The full ceremony, streamed live on the association’s official YouTube channel.
In this story
What happened at KOFA
- Two prizes for Possible Love. Best Film, for the production company Pine House Film, and Best Actress for Jeon Do-yeon (Spotv News, Oct. 19, 2026). The critics also put it on their “Yeongpyeong Top 10” of the year.
- How it was chosen. The association looked at Korean features released between October 2025 and September 2026. Members voted in a preliminary round, and the critics picked the winners in a final deliberation on October 16. The winners were announced on October 20 and handed their trophies tonight (JTBC, Nov. 4; Wikitree, Oct. 20, 2026).
- The other big film. Hope won Best Director (Na Hong-jin), Best Actor (Zo In-sung) and Best Cinematography (Hong Kyung-pyo), the most of any film (Wikitree, Oct. 20, 2026).
- On the photo wall. Zo In-sung escorted Jeon at the photo wall, the sweetest picture of the evening (Slist, Nov. 4, 2026).
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The speech, line by line
“Twenty years.” Jeon opened by checking her own history. “I looked it up, and the last time I won a Yeongpyeong Award was for Secret Sunshine. It’s been 20 years since I stood here” (JTBC; Hankook Ilbo, Nov. 4, 2026). Secret Sunshine was also directed by Lee Chang-dong. The same director brought her back to the same stage.
“The Best Actress in my heart was always me.” Then came the line everyone was writing down. “There was Shin-ae in Secret Sunshine, and now I’m standing here as Mi-ok in Possible Love. But with every film, I always come back as a new person, whether I win an award or not, whether audiences love it or not. The Best Actress in my heart was always me.” She went on: “That’s how I’ve cheered myself on and protected myself all this way, and I’ll keep walking my path the way I always have” (JTBC). It wasn’t bragging. It sounded like something she had told herself on the nights without a trophy.
“An acting award is never yours alone.” She shared it right away: “Everyone here knows that you don’t win an acting award by yourself. I thank Sul Kyung-gu, Cho Yeo-jeong and Zo In-sung, who should be receiving this with me, the other actors, and the Possible Love staff who kept the set going” (JTBC).
“Lee Chang-dong magic.” And the last word went to her director. “We call it ‘Lee Chang-dong magic.’ I think his magic brought me back to this spot after 20 years. Thank you” (JTBC; Hankook Ilbo). The room burst into applause.
Netflix’s official trailer.
The Possible Love family, live on stage
The cutest part of the night came from Zo In-sung, who won Best Actor for Hope, not Possible Love, but spent half his speech on the Possible Love team. He and Jeon found out about their wins late, he said, because Sul Kyung-gu dropped the news article into their group chat with one line: “You guys are getting it” (JTBC, Nov. 4, 2026).
Then he told on Jeon, in the sweetest way. “The Possible Love team has been going out to dinner a lot lately, and Do-yeon noona spends an hour praising Yeo-jeong and me. The more I hear it, the greedier I get. I’d love it if she went over an hour. Noona, please” (JTBC). Zo and Jeon are in the middle of a global promotion tour for the film, flying in and out of Korea (JTBC). After a speech like that, I can picture those dinners perfectly: the Queen of Cannes cheering for her co-stars for an hour straight.
MUBI’s official trailer for Na Hong-jin’s film, which won Zo In-sung his Best Actor prize.
Possible Love: the film
Possible Love follows two couples. Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu) is a laid-off worker and Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon) is his wife. Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong) is a documentary director and Sang-woo (Zo In-sung) is her husband. When the couples meet to make a documentary, they come face to face with each other’s very different lives and hidden desires (JTBC; Wikitree). It is Jeon’s first film with Lee Chang-dong since Secret Sunshine (Hankook Ilbo).
JTBC described her Mi-ok as a performance that “lives and breathes” inside Lee Chang-dong’s camera once again, the way Shin-ae did two decades ago (JTBC, Nov. 4, 2026). What I love is that she didn’t come back to repeat that role. Shin-ae was a grieving mother, and Mi-ok is a worker’s wife being filmed by strangers. Same director, same actress, a completely new woman, exactly as she promised on stage.
CJ ENM’s international trailer for the film that brought Jeon her last Yeongpyeong Award, 20 years ago.
The awards run so far
| When | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 2026 | 83rd Venice International Film Festival | Grand Jury Prize (Silver Lion), the first Venice Grand Jury Prize for a Korean film (Wikitree; Hankook Ilbo) |
| Sept. 2026 | 51st Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Awards | TIFF Ebert Director Award for Lee Chang-dong (Wikitree) |
| Fall 2026 | Mill Valley Film Festival (US) | Lee named an honoree (Wikitree) |
| Fall 2026 | New York Film Festival | Main Slate selection (Wikitree) |
| Nov. 4, 2026 | 46th Yeongpyeong Awards | Best Film; Best Actress (Jeon Do-yeon); Yeongpyeong Top 10 |
JTBC reported that foreign critics have called Jeon’s Mi-ok a once-in-a-century kind of performance, and that she’s being talked about as a contender for Best Actress at the 99th Academy Awards next March (JTBC, Nov. 4, 2026).
Why tonight felt so right
Critics, not crowds. The Yeongpyeong Award is decided by film critics, and Possible Love is a film critics fell for first, from Venice onward. Getting the critics’ top prize at home, just before the Netflix release, feels like the best kind of welcome.
The 20-year bridge. Jeon’s last Yeongpyeong Award came for Secret Sunshine, the film that also made her the Queen of Cannes. Twenty years later she’s back on the same stage, with the same director, for a completely different woman. She put it better than I can: she always comes back as someone new.
Generosity, all the way down. Jeon handed her trophy’s credit to Sul, Cho, Zo and the staff. Zo handed his to the audience. Sul was the one breaking the news in the group chat. You can feel a team that genuinely likes each other, and that warmth is all over this film.
Where to watch Possible Love
- Possible Love premieres worldwide on Netflix on Friday, November 6, 2026 (checked Nov. 4, 2026, US and Korea).
- Hope: paid video on demand in Korea since October 21 (Apple TV, TVING, Wavve, Coupang Play, Watcha, IPTV) (Ilgan Sports, Oct. 15, 2026), and from MUBI internationally: Hope on MUBI (checked Nov. 4, 2026, US page).
In two days, Mi-ok meets the whole world. I can’t wait to watch it again with everyone, and I’ll be cheering for this team all the way through awards season.
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Sources
- JTBC: Jeon Do-yeon’s Best Actress speech (Nov. 4, 2026)
- Hankook Ilbo: Jeon Do-yeon wins 20 years after Secret Sunshine (Nov. 4, 2026)
- JTBC: Zo In-sung’s Best Actor speech (Nov. 4, 2026)
- JTBC: Yeongpyeong Awards photo wall and winners (Nov. 4, 2026)
- Sports Hankook: ceremony and attendees (Nov. 4, 2026)
- Slist: Zo In-sung escorts Jeon Do-yeon (Nov. 4, 2026)
- News1: Jeon Do-yeon, Possible Love win Best Actress and Best Film (Nov. 4, 2026)
- Wikitree: 46th Yeongpyeong Awards winners and Possible Love’s awards run (Oct. 20, 2026)
- Spotv News: winners, Pine House Film, Yeongpyeong Top 10 (Oct. 19, 2026)
- Etoday: winners and deliberation (Oct. 19, 2026)
- Ilgan Sports: Hope video on demand (Oct. 15, 2026)
Featured photo: Jeon Do-yeon at the 64th New York Film Festival, Alice Tully Hall, September 27, 2026. Photo: LR.127 / WikiPortraits / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized).
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