Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh to receive Women in Motion Award from Cannes Film Festival
KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — Academy Award-winning actress Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh will be adding yet another award to her list of accolades.
Yeoh will receive the Women in Motion Award at next month's Cannes Film Festival, an award to spotlight women's contributions to cinema launched in 2015.
Organised by the festival and French luxury group Kering, the trophy will be given during a dinner ceremony which will take place from May 16 to 27.
The Ipoh-born actress will join past honorees including Jane Fonda, Isabelle Huppert, Viola Davis and Gong Li.
Yeoh was ‘moved’ to be recognised by the festival, saying she is ‘convinced that times are changing’.
“It’s vital that women, in front of the camera and behind it, keep playing roles and telling stories that reflect the diversity and complexity of the world,” the 60-year-old told The Hollywood Reporter.
According to Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault, Yeoh broke ‘every stereotype’ and wanted to spotlight 'her significant contribution to cinema’ and her inspiration to the next generation of artists.
Cannes Film Festival president Iris Knobloch said that Yeoh was the ‘most outstanding example’ of key people who have changed the way women are portrayed in arts and culture.
Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux added that Yeoh served in the 2002 Cannes jury and ‘relentlessly explored new possibilities’, stating that she was inevitably bound to receive the award.
Yeoh made history when she became the first Asian to win Best Actress at the 2023 Academy Awards for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Previously, she also won Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy at the 2023 Golden Globes Awards.
Yeoh is expected to return to Malaysia on April 18 to meet fans in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.
