Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh will be honored with the Honorary Golden Bear at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival.
On Friday, Nov. 14, the organizers said that the lifetime achievement award recognizes Michelle’s “outstanding achievements in film and cinema.”
The Hollywood actress will receive the honor at the festival’s opening ceremony in Berlin on Feb. 12, 2026.
Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle described the Oscar-winning actress as “a visionary artist and performer whose work defies boundaries—whether geographic, linguistic, or cinematic.”
The Berlinale, set to run from Feb. 12 to Feb. 22, 2026, is Europe’s first major film festival of the year and is regarded as one of the continent’s “Big Three” alongside Cannes and Venice.
Michelle, who previously served as a Berlinale jury member in 1999, has attended the festival with films including “Crouching Tiger,” “Hidden Dragon,” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Michelle became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress in 2023 for her performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Her four-decade career spans international blockbusters including “Tomorrow Never Dies,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” and numerous acclaimed Asian action films.
