Michelle Yeoh Is “Watching the Tides Turn” For Women in Film

If anyone is in a position to reflect on how Hollywood has changed when it comes to opportunities for women, it’s Michelle Yeoh. The Oscar-winning star of Everything Everywhere All At Once got to do just that Sunday night in Cannes when she was honored with Kering’s Women in Motion Award. “I have watched the currents throughout my entire career, and I am watching the tides turn now,” Yeoh said.  

Yeoh, who also won a Golden Globe and SAG Award this year, was given the Women in Motion Award in front of seated guests who included Leonardo DiCaprio, Isabelle Hupert, Rebel Wilson, Alfonso Cuaron, Salma Hayek, jury president Ruben Östlund, jury members Paul Dano and Brie Larson, President of the Festival de Cannes Iris Knobloch, and Director of the Festival de Cannes Thierry Frémaux. The elegant dining experience set below hundreds of twinkling lights on a hilltop above Cannes is an annual celebration of the accomplishments of women in culture and the arts. 

“For too long we as women have been left out of rooms and conversations. We have been told the door is closed to us,” she said. “Well, Virginia Woolf once said, ‘there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.’ Our ideas are endless. Our passion is infinite. And we have come to knock that door down.”

Yeoh went on to mention several of her most iconic characters “who are strong, capable and unafraid to stand up for themselves,” including Wai Lin from Tomorrow Never Dies, Yu Shu Lien from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Evelyn Wang from Everything Everywhere All at Once. “They have taught me so many lessons about how I would like to move through the world: with integrity, with perseverance and above all with fierce compassion,” she said. 

Yeoh, who has been filming the Wicked movie adaptation in London, attended the world premiere of Firebrand earlier that evening wearing a show-stopping green Balenciaga gown. That night, she wrapped up her acceptance speech — one of so many she’s given over the past year and a half — by looking at what lies ahead when it comes to opportunities for women in film. “There is still work to do. We have a long way to go before we can say we are on equal footing.” she said. “So what I would like to say is keep fighting, keep pushing, keep telling your stories. Your voices are important and your vision is vital.”