Oscar Winner Michelle Yeoh will be Guest of Honor and Advisor at Fifth Annual Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival

The legendary actress and newly crowned Academy Award winner will celebrate and support young filmmakers on April 28 at the global shorts festival, one of the largest in the world.

NEW YORK, April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh, star of the globally acclaimed Oscar-winning Best Picture "Everything Everywhere All At Once," will serve as Guest of Honor and Advisor at The Fifth Annual Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival, the premier platform for young visual artists and one of the largest short film festivals in the world. Announced today, the news is the latest highlight in a landmark year for Yeoh, an actress and martial arts icon whose legendary career spans four decades.

On Friday, April 28, Yeoh will appear during the festival's 2023 awards ceremony to share inspiring insights with the next generation of filmmakers. The ceremony will be held at the Meihodo Cultural Center in Fukuoka, Japan, and will premiere on YouTube on Sunday, April 30.

"We're so excited to welcome the incredible Michelle Yeoh, fresh off of her historic Academy Award win," said Qing Su, Chairman of the Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival. "Everything about Michelle's recent career surge, and her landmark film 'Everything Everywhere All At Once,' is emblematic of Meihodo's themes and mission, including pushing the boundaries of cinema storytelling. Also, as an Asia-originated festival with historic roots in martial arts, we're proud that Michelle also embodies our goals for diversity and our origins."

At this year's Oscars, Yeoh made history as the first Asian woman to be awarded for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. In addition, Yeoh recently won the Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, making her the first Asian woman to win in the category. After starting her career as a Hong Kong martial arts star with roles opposite Jackie Chan in "Police Story 3: Supercop" and "Tai Chi Master" alongside Jet Li, she went on to appear in the James Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and, more recently, "Crazy Rich Asians."

"I'm so honored to be a part of this festival, which champions and celebrates young visual artists from around the world," said Yeoh. "'Everything Everywhere All At Once' is about taking risks, embracing bold new ideas, and doing it all with love and passion. Meihodo seems to share these same values, which makes this a perfect collaboration."

Since launching in 2018 in Fukuoka, Meihodo has become one of the largest and most popular short film festivals in the world. This year, the festival received a record 3,533 submissions from 122 countries and regions around the world.

This year, the festival is pleased to welcome new and returning guests. A new guest for Meihodo is action star Maggie Q, known for her roles in "Mission Impossible: III," the "Divergent" franchise and her title role in the CW series "Nikita." Also new this year is Gabriella Cristiani, a veteran film editor and Academy Award winner for 1987's "The Last Emperor," and Stephen Castor, Co-CEO of It's Just Us Productions, Rocket Science 3D and Rocket Science Motion Capture Studios, who's known for his work on the "Spider-Man" franchise. Returning guests include Special Advisor Tan Dun, Academy Award-winning composer for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and Dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music; Honorary Chairwoman Yue-Sai Kan, an Emmy-winning television producer who People magazine called "the most famous woman of China."

The fifth annual competition is divided into three categories: Narrative Film; Documentary and Music Video, the latter of which will be judged by Tan Dun. In addition to the Grand Prize winner, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be awarded in each category, with the total prize exceeding $100,000. Select top contenders are eligible to receive up to $100,000 U.S. in funding from the Meihodo Foundation to co-produce future projects with Meihodo alumni members including Academy Award-winning producers.

All prize money winners will have the option to choose between cryptocurrency and traditional cash. For the Grand, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners, Meihodo will mint official NFT trophies through the OpenSea NFT Marketplace, digital renderings of the posters of the winning films.

Previous Guests of Honor include Academy Award winners Michael Douglas, Juliette Binoche and Yōjirō Takita, a Japanese filmmaker who received the Oscar for Best International Feature Film in 2008 for "Departures."

ABOUT MEIHODO INTERNATIONAL YOUTH VISUAL MEDIA FESTIVAL

One of the largest short film festivals in the world, MEIHODO International Youth Visual Media Festival is an independent visual media festival sponsored by MEIHODO, a Japanese corporation aiming to support young visual artists worldwide. Founded in 2018, the annual Festival was created by MEIHODO, Inc. as a grand exchange event for the exhibition and selection of creative works by young visual artists. Each year, the festival concludes with a celebratory awards ceremony.

SOURCE Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival