The 2026 Berlinale kicks off in exactly a week, and Sean Baker will be there — not just to present Michelle Yeoh with the festival’s Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement, but to also a premiere a secret new project that stars the actress.
Baker and Yeoh team up with London fashion house Self-Portrait for “Sandiwara,” a short film that harks back to the director’s early work. Shot on an iPhone, “Sandiwara” stars Yeoh as five separate characters, and is set in a Malaysian night market, where, the synopsis says, “each character tells their own unique story and represents a facet of Malaysian culture rarely explored.” The short has its world premiere in a special screening at Berlin on February 13, with both Baker and Yeoh in attendance for a Q&A afterward.
The short, described by the fashion house as an “immersive cinematic experience,” is the first project from Self-Portrait’s residency program, launched in 2025, that aims to bring creatives “from all disciplines into the brand to design using their own distinctive style.” Baker, fresh off a career zenith thanks to 2024’s “Anora,” is a perfect person to inaugurate the program, with Berlin 2026 a perfect site for it to screen, thanks to Yeoh receiving an honorary Golden Bear this year.
Still, “Sandiwara” won’t satisfy cinephiles eager for Baker’s next feature film. Last December, the director teased that his next movie would share “similar themes” with the Oscar Best Picture-winning “Anora” and hopes to shoot it this year. Stay tuned for further details.
As for the Berlinale, the festival runs from February 12 to 22 this year. Take a look at a first-look image for “Sandiwara” below.
