Michelle Yeoh Gets the Berlin Film Festival’s Highest Honour — and a Wild New Movie Shot on an iPhone
Michelle Yeoh already has an Oscar on her shelf. Now she’s about to add one of cinema’s most prestigious lifetime honours to the collection.
The 2026 Berlin Film Festival has announced that Yeoh will receive the Honorary Golden Bear — the festival’s equivalent of a lifetime achievement award — in a ceremony on February 12. It’s recognition for a career that has spanned four decades, dozens of countries, and virtually every genre from martial arts to sci-fi to prestige drama. And the timing couldn’t be better, because she’s also bringing a brand new film to Berlin that might be one of the strangest and most exciting projects she’s ever been involved in.
What Is “Sandiwara”?
The film is called Sandiwara — a Malay word meaning “drama” or “theatrical performance” — and it’s directed by Sean Baker, the filmmaker behind Anora, The Florida Project, and Tangerine. If you know Baker’s work, you’ll know he’s not interested in doing things the conventional way. True to form, Sandiwara was shot entirely on an iPhone.
Baker first gained attention in 2015 with Tangerine, which was also filmed on iPhones and went on to become one of the most acclaimed independent films of the decade. With Sandiwara, he’s returning to that stripped-back approach — but this time the scale is bigger and the ambition is wilder.
Yeoh plays not one but five different characters in the film, each representing a different facet of Malaysian culture. It’s set against the vibrant backdrop of a Malaysian night market, and the whole thing was filmed on location in Penang. According to the press release, the film “delves into diverse narratives that highlight facets of Malaysian culture rarely explored in mainstream media.”
Sandiwara: Key Facts
| Detail | Info |
| Director | Sean Baker (Anora, The Florida Project, Tangerine) |
| Star | Michelle Yeoh (playing 5 different roles) |
| Shot on | iPhone |
| Location | Penang, Malaysia |
| Setting | Malaysian night market |
| World premiere | Berlin Film Festival, February 13, 2026 |
| Produced by | Self-Portrait (fashion brand) Residency programme |
| Genre | Described as an “immersive cinematic experience” |
What makes this project even more unusual is how it came about. Sandiwara is the first project to emerge from the Residency programme launched by Self-Portrait, a London-based fashion house founded by Malaysian-born designer Han Chong. The initiative invites creatives from different disciplines to use the brand’s resources to bring their ideas to life. Baker was the first artist invited, and he brought Yeoh along for the ride.
It’s a collaboration between the worlds of cinema and fashion that sounds like it could be a gimmick — but with Baker’s track record and Yeoh’s talent, nobody is betting against it.
Yeoh’s Career: From Action Hero to Oscar Winner
For anyone under 30, Michelle Yeoh might be primarily associated with Everything Everywhere All at Once, the 2022 film that earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress and turned her into one of the most talked-about performers in Hollywood. But her career stretches back to the mid-1980s, and the road to that Oscar was anything but straightforward.
Born in Ipoh, Malaysia, in 1962, Yeoh trained as a ballet dancer before pivoting to action cinema in Hong Kong. She became one of the biggest stars in Asian cinema through films like Supercop (1992) alongside Jackie Chan, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which brought her to global attention. She did her own stunts. She broke bones. She earned her reputation the hard way.
Michelle Yeoh: Career Highlights
| Year | Film/Project | Significance |
| 1985 | Yes, Madam | Breakout action role in Hong Kong cinema |
| 1992 | Supercop (with Jackie Chan) | Cemented status as Asia’s top action star |
| 1997 | Tomorrow Never Dies | James Bond film; first major Hollywood role |
| 2000 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Global phenomenon; four Academy Awards |
| 2018 | Crazy Rich Asians | Cultural milestone for Asian representation |
| 2022 | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Won Academy Award for Best Actress |
| 2023 | Started in multiple franchise projects | Star Trek, Wicked, Marvel rumours |
| 2026 | Sandiwara (Berlin premiere) | Five roles; shot on iPhone by Sean Baker |
| 2026 | Honorary Golden Bear, Berlin | Lifetime achievement recognition |
What sets Yeoh apart isn’t just her versatility — it’s her willingness to take risks. She went from Hong Kong action films to Bond villain sidekick to Ang Lee drama to Marvel franchise to indie darling to Oscar winner. Not many actors can claim that kind of range, and fewer still have managed it while staying true to their cultural roots.
The Golden Bear and What It Means
The Honorary Golden Bear has previously been awarded to filmmakers and actors including Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Michael Ballhaus, and Isabelle Huppert. It’s not handed out lightly, and the festival tends to choose recipients whose work has had a genuine cultural impact beyond just box-office success.
For Yeoh, the timing aligns with a broader recognition of Asian talent in global cinema that has accelerated in recent years. Her Oscar win in 2023 was a watershed moment — the first for an Asian woman in the Best Actress category — and this Golden Bear cements her place in the very top tier of living actors.
The award ceremony will take place on February 12, followed by a special screening of Sandiwara on February 13 with a discussion featuring both Baker and Yeoh.
Why This Matters
It would be easy to file this under “famous person gets another award.” But there’s something more interesting happening here. At 63, Yeoh is not slowing down. She’s not doing safe projects. She’s filming on iPhones in Malaysian night markets with one of independent cinema’s most daring directors, playing five characters in a film produced by a fashion brand. That’s not the behaviour of someone coasting on past success.
The Berlinale clearly agrees. And if Sandiwara delivers even half of what its premise promises, we might be talking about another landmark Yeoh performance — this time captured in the palm of Sean Baker’s hand.