Golden Bear Presented to Michelle Yeoh at the Berlin International Film Festival
According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival officially opened with the premiere of No Good Men, directed by Shahrbanoo Sadat, and the presentation of an honorary Golden Bear to Michelle Yeoh.
Sadat, the Afghan director and actress, walked the rainy red carpet alongside the film’s cast and crew. The Hollywood Reporter reported that several European and American film stars attended the opening ceremony at the Berlinale Palast, including Neil Patrick Harris, Daniel Brühl, Bella Ramsey, and Lars Eidinger.
Before the screening of the opening film, Yeoh received the honorary award from Sean Baker, with whom she recently collaborated on the short film Sandiwara.
Baker said: “Michelle Yeoh is not one of those artists who simply appear in films — she redefines the space. When she comes on screen, you feel a shift.”
The director of Anora added that the Berlinale’s Golden Bear symbolizes “artistic freedom, strength, and courage” and is “entirely fitting” for Yeoh.
The star of Tomorrow Never Dies and Everything Everywhere All at Once then took the stage to accept the award, which in previous years had been presented to Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton, and Steven Spielberg.
Yeoh said: “I feel an overwhelming sense of deep gratitude and quiet awe. The phrase ‘lifetime achievement’ carries enormous weight — it sounds like a conclusion — but I prefer to see it as a pause, a moment to breathe, to look back, and then to continue moving forward.”
She continued: “I never imagined that a girl from Malaysia who loved discipline, dance, and boundless imagination would travel so far through storytelling. My journey has taken me across languages and cultures, continents and genres — sometimes comfortably, sometimes painfully. But it has always been guided by curiosity and a profound belief in cinema. Cinema became the place where I could embrace contradictions — strength and vulnerability, seriousness and playfulness, control and release.”
Yeoh advised the next generation of filmmakers: “To young artists, especially those who feel unseen or like outsiders, please know that your place is secure. Your difference does not need fixing. It is your power.”
At the end of her speech, dedicating the award to her late father moved the audience to a standing ovation, with some visibly emotional: “I feel him beside me… If he could see me tonight holding this Golden Bear, I know he would be smiling.”
Wim Wenders, president of this year’s jury, later took the stage and received another enthusiastic standing ovation. The 80-year-old filmmaker said that if he were to meet “little Wim” today, he would tell him: “It’s fine to take films this seriously, but perhaps you should take others more seriously — and yourself a little less!”
Wenders declined to answer political questions about the Israel–Palestine war during the jury press conference.
This year’s Berlinale runs through February 22.
