Michelle Yeoh Shuts Down a Politics Question at Berlin Film Festival, Focuses Answers on Cinema

Michelle Yeoh is not interested in entering the political conversation.

The 63-year-old Oscar-winning actress, who is this year’s Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, shut down a question about U.S. politics during a press conference on Friday (February 13) in Berlin, Germany.

“I don’t think I am in the position to really talk about the political situation in the U.S., and also I cannot […] say I understand it, so it is best not to talk about something I don’t know about,” Michelle told the press when asked about the political landscape (via THR).

She continued, “But I think I want to concentrate on what is important for us, which is cinema. People like to say ‘cinema is not going to survive because there are so many other things happening, the attention span is shorter,’ but I truly don’t believe that.”

Michelle added, “I believe when you go to the cinema, that is time for you. You switch off your phones and you’ve chosen to watch something that you want, and that is the time when you can open your hearts and free your minds and have time to yourself. Cinema is a place where we all come together, we laugh, we cry, we celebrate. So it’s important to always keep that tradition alive, and I hope that’s what we are here to do.”

Michelle was joined at the awards ceremony on Thursday night by husband Jean Todt and director Sean Baker. See more photos in the gallery!