Michelle Yeoh has another award coming her way.
On the heels of a history that won Oscar for her work in Everything Everywhere Everything at onceKering and the Cannes Film Festival announced today that Yeoh will receive a Women in Motion Award at next month’s festival.
The trophy will be presented in Cannes at the official Women In Motion dinner that sheds light on women and their contributions to cinema, an event that started in 2015. Since then, Jane Fonda, Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon, Isabelle Huppert, Patty Jenkins, Gong Li, Salma Hayek, and Viola Davis have been among them.
Yeoh said she is “deeply moved” by the honor. “I am convinced that times are changing,” she said. “Public awareness has certainly grown in recent years. It is essential that women — in front of and behind the camera — continue to play roles and tell stories that reflect the diversity and complexity of the world.”
Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault praised the actress for breaking “every stereotype” through her work on screen. “Together with the Festival de Cannes, we wanted to recognize her significant contribution to film and her ability to inspire future generations of talent. It was an obvious choice to give her the Women In Motion Award,” he added.
Cannes Film Festival officials, for their part, also commented on the selection with President Iris Knobloch’s offer: “Over the past nine years, Women In Motion has highlighted the figures who have played a key role in changing the way women are represented in culture and the arts. Michelle Yeoh is undoubtedly one of the most striking examples of this commitment.”
Fest director Thierry Frémaux noted that Yeoh served on the Cannes jury in 2002: “Throughout her career she has relentlessly explored new possibilities – to the point where this has become her trademark for a large international audience. The awards she receives, are simply the inevitable result of this extraordinary journey.”
In addition to a Best Actress Oscar, Yeoh won a Golden Globe, SAG Award, and Spirit Award, among many other critical accolades, during the past awards season. She will play the next leading role in the Disney+ series American born Chinesethat of Netflix The Sun BrothersJames Camerons avatar sequels, Jon M. Chu’s Bad and that of Kenneth Branagh A haunting in Venice.
