Michelle Yeoh named Busan festival’s Asian filmmaker of the year
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
Michelle Yeoh has been named Asian Filmmaker of the Year by the Busan International Film Festival, which revealed the honour on Thursday. She will accept the award at the festival's opening ceremony on 6 October at the Busan Cinema Center, with Pachinko star Kim Minha hosting. Presented annually since 2003, the award recognises exceptional contributions to Asian cinema, and organisers say Yeoh's four-decade career fits the bill—from redefining women's roles in Hong Kong martial arts films to becoming the first Asian performer to win the Best Actress Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
The honour caps a year of accolades for Yeoh, who in February became the first Asian woman to receive the Honorary Golden Bear at Berlin, where Sean Baker later premiered Sandiwara, an iPhone-shot short he made starring her. For Busan, Yeoh has curated a three-film programme comprising Sandiwara, Everything Everywhere All at Once and 2010's Reign of Assassins; the festival will also screen It's My Time, her first Chinese-language film since her Oscar win, in which she plays a septuagenarian who takes up competitive speedcubing. Previous Busan honorees include Jafar Panahi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung Chiu-wai; the 31st festival runs 6–15 October, and Yeoh will next appear in Prime Video's Blade Runner 2099.
- Busan festival names Michelle Yeoh Asian Filmmaker of the Year
- She accepts the honour at the 6 October opening ceremony
- Follows her Berlin Honorary Golden Bear earlier this year
New here? Start with this
Busan is one of Asia's biggest film festivals, and each year it hands out an award called Asian Filmmaker of the Year to recognise someone judged to have made an outstanding contribution to cinema in the region. Michelle Yeoh is a Malaysian actress who began her career in Hong Kong action films before going on to international success, including becoming the first Asian performer to win the Best Actress Oscar, for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
The award is not new, having been given out since 2003 to figures such as directors Jafar Panahi and Kiyoshi Kurosawa and actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, so it carries some prestige within the industry. It matters partly because it reflects how far Yeoh's career has travelled, from martial arts films to Hollywood and now this kind of institutional recognition from her own region, and partly because Busan itself is a significant platform for showcasing Asian cinema to a global audience.
More coverage
- Deadline — Michelle Yeoh Named As Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Filmmaker Of The Year
- Variety — Michelle Yeoh Named Asian Filmmaker of the Year at Busan
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by The Hollywood Reporter as “Busan Film Festival to Honor Michelle Yeoh as Asian Filmmaker of the Year”.