Sean Baker and Michelle Yeoh‘s “Sandiwara,” a film made in collaboration with the London-based fashion house Self-Portrait, is set to world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival later this month.

As Variety first reported back in December, in “Sandiwara” the “Anora” director returns to his iPhone-shooting roots for what is described in a press release as an “immersive cinematic experience.” It marks the first film from Self-Portrait’s Residency program, which launched last year with the aim of inviting creatives “from all disciplines into the brand to design using their own distinctive style,” the release states. The initiative provides Self-Portrait’s “infrastructure, platforms, resources, teams and distribution network to spotlight and promote external creatives, offering them the freedom to dream and create.”

Starring Yeoh as five different characters, “Sandiwara” is set in Malaysia and “moves beyond fashion and into the world of cinema and storytelling to capture the heart of Malaysian culture,” according to its synopsis. The film gets its title from the Malay word for “drama, theatrical performance or play” and was shot in Penang with filming culminating in Hawker Center.

The Berlin Film Festival will host a special screening of “Sandiwara” on Feb. 13, followed by a conversation between the director and actor. Baker will also be on hand at the Berlinale’s opening ceremony on Feb. 12 to present Yeoh with this year’s Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement.

The Berlin Film Festival runs from Feb. 12 to 22.

International Olympic Committee member Michelle Yeoh and husband Jean Todt are in Italy for the Winter Olympics and yesterday attended the opening ceremony.

An old magazine complete on Tomorrow Never Dies has been added to the gallery.

It’s easy to be entranced by Michelle Yeoh’s physical commitment—from the way her body elegantly arcs in combat as master warrior Shu Lien in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to her impressive manipulation of hot dog fingers as Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once. If an actor’s body is their instrument, it’s long been clear that Yeoh is a virtuoso.

But the next time you’re watching one of her films, pay extra attention to the quiet moments. Because the Malaysian actress is even more impressive when she’s telling a whole life story—one of generational trauma, repressed desire, or barely concealed disdain—without moving a muscle. “Your eyes can say more than your mouth will ever be able to,” she says. “Stillness is much more powerful.”

When she calls L’OFFICIEL at the end of October, the 63-year-old is in Dublin, finishing up her last days on the set of The Surgeon, an action-suspense hybrid directed by Roshan Sethi and produced by the John Wick franchise team. Yeoh plays the title character, a retired surgeon who gets abducted and is forced to operate on a mysterious patient. Is this her Wick-ian moment, in which she’ll get to exact maximum carnage? “No,” she says with a laugh. “It’s not that kind of incredible crazy-ass action. This is a different kind of thriller.”

Though she’s starred as a secret agent, a starship captain, and the matriarch of a crime family in her 40 years on screen, Yeoh has never been a surgeon. “I love playing characters that I haven’t done before,” she says. “That was what fascinated me about this particular script. That—and the idea of, when your own life is at stake, how do you use your profession to save yourself?”

Read the full article/interview in our press library.

The Malaysian actress, an icon of action cinema and Asian representation, will receive an honorary Golden Bear on February 12, 2026.

At the Berlinale Palast, Michelle Yeoh will return as a queen. On February 12, 2026, the Malaysian actress—who won an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once—will receive an Honorary Golden Bear, a tribute to four decades of a career that has pushed boundaries, challenged genres, and expanded the possibilities of cinematic imagination. For Berlin, it’s also a homecoming of sorts: Yeoh served on the jury in 1999, and her films have regularly been part of the festival’s history, which has always welcomed her, she says, with “warmth and generosity.”

This distinction recognizes an extraordinary career. From the meticulously choreographed stunts of Hong Kong action cinema—Yes, Madam, Royal Warriors, Police Story III, Wing Chun—to her global breakthrough in 1997 as a secret agent in 007: Tomorrow Never Dies, Yeoh has forged the image of a fearless, elegant, and indomitable heroine. Her worldwide acclaim deepened with Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where her performance, blending restrained strength and emotional depth, became instantly iconic.

In 2023, her Oscar win marked a historic turning point: as the first Asian actress to win the Best Actress category, Yeoh became a symbol of long-awaited representation—a powerful signal to both the industry and the public. Tricia Tuttle, director of the Berlinale, praised her as an artist capable of “crossing geographical and linguistic boundaries,” influencing filmmakers and audiences alike.

The Berlin honor arrives as Yeoh embraces a new phase of creative intensity. She stars in Wicked: For Good, is set to lead the Blade Runner 2099 series, and will soon appear in the thriller The Surgeon. Her momentum remains unstoppable, faithful to the drive that has always made her a pioneer.

By joining the pantheon of Honorary Golden Bear recipients—including Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Tilda Swinton, and Helen Mirren—Michelle Yeoh further cements her status as one of the defining figures of contemporary cinema.

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