{"id":11860,"date":"2026-02-13T13:03:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/11860\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T13:03:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:03:04","slug":"michelle-yeoh-avoids-u-s-politics-question-in-berlin-focusing-on-cinema","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/11860\/","title":{"rendered":"Michelle Yeoh Avoids U.S. Politics Question in Berlin, Focusing on Cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMichelle Yeoh<\/a> declined to speak about U.S. politics during a press conference at Berlin Film Festival<\/a>, saying it\u2019s \u201cbest not to talk about something I don\u2019t know about.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen asked by a reporter if she had any comment as an international actress on the current state of the U.S. \u2014 likely meaning Trump\u2019s ongoing ICE raids, though that was not specified \u2014 Yeoh said: \u201cI don\u2019t think I am in the position to really talk about the political situation in the U.S., and also I cannot presume to say I understand how it is. So, best not to talk about something I don\u2019t know about.\u201d Yeoh, who is Malaysian and primarily lives in Switzerland, added that she wanted to \u201cconcentrate on what is important for us, which is cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe hear, \u2018Oh, cinema is not going to survive because there\u2019s so many other things happening, the attention span is getting shorter.\u2019 But I truly don\u2019t believe that,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I believe when we go to the cinema, that is time for you. You know, you switch off your phones and you\u2019ve chosen to watch something that you want. And that is the time when you can open your heart and free your mind and have time to yourself. Cinema is a place where we all come together and laugh and cry, we celebrate, but it\u2019s always important to keep that tradition alive. And I hope that is what we are here to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tElsewhere in the conference, Yeoh said she would love to work with more European directors and is \u201cdying\u201d to make a movie with Mexican auteur Guillermo del Toro. \u201cI think it\u2019s finding the balance and hoping that the European directors will take notice of me and say, \u2018Maybe we should have her in our film,’\u201d she said. \u201cSo please put it out there! I would love to be back here and working with the true greats of European cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYeoh was also asked about Asian representation in Hollywood, saying that it \u201ccontinues to be a struggle\u201d and recalling the industry challenges that came with making films like \u201cCrazy Rich Asians\u201d and \u201cEverything Everywhere All at Once.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAt the time when he presented the movie, everyone was going, \u2018Oh my God, he ticked all the wrong boxes \u2014 all-Asian cast, rom-com \u2014 it\u2019s going to fall flat.\u2019 But fortunately, I think it hit a nerve,\u201d Yeoh said of \u201cCrazy Rich Asians.\u201d But, she added, \u201cyou could see that there was changes, otherwise I would not have been able to make \u2018Everything Everywhere All at Once.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was courageous to do that though, because once again, we ticked all the wrong boxes,\u201d she said of the Oscar best picture winner. \u201cBut we prevailed, and I think that\u2019s what it is. I think today, I sit here with a Golden Bear not because of just one movie, but the perseverance, the resilience, the stubbornness to ay, \u2018I won\u2019t just go away. I will stay until the right changes are made.’\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tLast night, Yeoh was presented the festival\u2019s honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement from \u201cAnora\u201d director Sean Baker. The two collaborated on a short film, \u201cSandiwara,\u201d which is premiering at the festival on Friday. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn his speech<\/a>, Baker called Yeoh a \u201conce-in a-generation screen presence, the kind who doesn\u2019t just appear in movies, but the kind that redefines the temperature of the room.\u201d Accepting the award, Yeoh moved the audience with an emotional speech reflecting on her career.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA part of me is still that young girl who simply wanted to make her parents proud,\u201d she said. \u201cMy father is no longer here to see this moment. But I carry him with me, his discipline, his steadiness, his belief that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. And if he could see me here tonight, holding this Golden Bear, I know he would smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an interview with Variety<\/a> on Thursday, Yeoh talked more about her decades in show business and ageism in Hollywood. \u201cLet\u2019s not let them define us as women or put us in a box and say, \u2018Oh, well, because now you\u2019re this age, you should only play a grandmother,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Hell, no. I will kick ass because I want to, and I still can.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michelle Yeoh declined to speak about U.S. politics during a press conference at Berlin Film Festival, saying it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[112,3146,190,4027],"class_list":{"0":"post-11860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-berlin","8":"tag-berlin","9":"tag-berlin-film-festival","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-michelle-yeoh"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}