Michelle Yeoh will receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award at the 31st Busan International Film Festival, adding another major honour to the Oscar-winning actor’s distinguished career.
Yeoh will accept the award during the festival’s opening ceremony on Oct. 6 at the Busan Cinema Center. The 2026 Busan International Film Festival will run from Oct. 6 to 15.
Presented annually since 2003, the award recognises a film professional or organisation for exceptional contributions to Asian cinema. Yeoh’s four-decade career includes influential Hong Kong action films, Hollywood blockbusters and acclaimed international productions.
Read more: Michelle Yeoh Stars as Dying Replicant in ‘Blade Runner 2099’, Trailer Drops at Comic-Con
She first rose to prominence with films such as Yes, Madam! (1985), Police Story 3: Supercop and Wing Chun, helping redefine the role of women in martial arts cinema. She later starred in Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Yeoh made history with Everything Everywhere All at Once, becoming the first Asian performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Busan will mark the honour with a special programme featuring three films selected by Yeoh: Reign of Assassins, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Sandiwara.
View this post on Instagram
The festival will also screen It’s My Time, Yeoh’s first Chinese-language feature since her Oscar win. Directed by Bai Xue, the film stars Yeoh as a woman in her seventies who discovers a talent for speedcubing.
The Busan recognition follows another major career milestone for Yeoh. In February, she became the first Asian woman to receive the Honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.’
After her final appearance as Madame Morrible in Wicked: For Good, Yeoh will next star in Prime Video’s upcoming series Blade Runner 2099.
Recent recipients of Busan’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year award include Jafar Panahi in 2025, Kiyoshi Kurosawa in 2024, Chow Yun-fat in 2023 and Tony Leung Chiu-wai in 2022.
Pachinko star Kim Minha will host the Busan opening ceremony, where Yeoh will be formally honoured on Oct. 6.
