The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Oscar winner will be feted during the 2023 film festival this May.
Michelle Yeoh is officially the 2023 Kering Women in Motion Award recipient for this year’s Cannes film festival.
The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Oscar winner will be celebrated during the annual Women in Motion dinner honoring women in cinema. Since its launch during the festival in 2015, the program has been rewarding and highlighting the creativity and unique contribution made by women in culture and the arts, whose work helps to transform our vision of the world. Past recipients include Jane Fonda, Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon, Isabelle Huppert, Patty Jenkins, Gong Li, Salma Hayek, and Viola Davis.
“I’m very moved to receive this award. I’m convinced that times are changing; public awareness has certainly grown in recent years,” Yeoh said in a press statement. “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.”
Malaysian-born actress and producer Yeoh made history as the first Asian woman to win the Best Actress category at the Oscars. Yeoh also earned Golden Globe and SAG Awards for her role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
“Through her iconic roles, Michelle Yeoh has managed to shatter every stereotype,” Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault said. “Together with the Festival de Cannes, we wanted to recognize her significant contribution to cinema, and her ability to inspire future generations of talent. Presenting her with the Women In Motion Award was the obvious choice.”
Thierry Frémaux, the director of the Festival de Cannes, added, “We are thrilled to be honoring Michelle Yeoh, an actress who is passionately dedicated to her films and has made her mark on the industry in so many different ways, and who we had the great pleasure of welcoming to the jury of the Festival de Cannes 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 is receiving are simply the inevitable outcome of this exceptional journey.”
Iris Knobloch, president of the Cannes festival, shared, “I am happy and proud to celebrate, along with Kering, the contribution made by women to the film industry. For the past nine years, Women In Motion has been highlighting 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 outstanding examples of this commitment.”
The 2023 Cannes film festival will take place from May 16 to May 27.
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