Michelle Yeoh will receive the inaugural Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film festival is set to take place from 8th September to 18th September. Known in the early years for playing martial arts-centric roles, the actor rose to prominence with Ang Lee’s 2000 film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Tomorrow Never Dies. Her recent release Everything Everywhere All At Once gained positive reviews and became a worldwide box office success.
According to officials at TIFF, the award will be presented to women in the film industry who paved the way for other women and went on to make a positive impact on the industry as a whole. Commenting about Michelle Yeoh receiving the award, CEO of TIFF, Cameron Bailey said, “Michelle Yeoh is the definition of groundbreaking. Her screen work has spanned continents, genres, and decades. This year she delivered a performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once that shows her limitless abilities.”
Born in Malaysia, Yeoh grew up in the UK before getting her start in Hong Kong martial arts films. She then moved on to Hollywood and built a prolific career over a span of 40 years. She broke barriers for female Asian actors in the film industry and was recently featured in TIME’s 100 most influential people.
