Sandiwara best news for Penang

This would probably be the best-ever advertisement for Penang in a very long while. Maybe even the best ever. I’m referring to the short, 11-minute independent film Sandiwara, featuring Malaysia’s Oscar-winning Michelle Yeoh playing five different characters in a story woven along the streets and food centres of Penang.

Maybe a month or two ago, there was a small Facebook posting saying that Michelle Yeoh had been spotted filming at the Red Garden along Leith Street. She was all dressed up in various ways. But very little noise about it. No big announcements. No press excitement. Just a sighting. At that time, I don’t think many of us knew what exactly was going on.

Then last week, I read that Sandiwara would premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2026. Berlin. That was when I realised this was not some small side project.

The film was directed by Sean Baker, the Oscar-winning director of Anora. The same Sean Baker who shot Tangerine on an iPhone years ago. The same one known for telling very human, street-level stories. And here he was, quietly coming to Penang and shooting a short film on an iPhone again. Not because he had to. But because he wanted to.

Apparently it was done in a guerilla style. Two days of shooting. Small crew. iPhone cameras so they could blend in. Which made sense. Imagine trying to move around Penang with an A-list global star like Michelle Yeoh. He would have attracted half the island.

What surprised me most was that Michelle Yeoh agreed to do this. After winning her Oscar, she could choose any big Hollywood production. Big budgets. Big sets. Instead, she came home and played five characters -- a food critic, a hawker, a waitress, a singer and even a modern-day vlogger -- all moving through the same Penang streets and food centres we know so well. An experimental short film set not in grand studios, but amidst hawker stalls and heritage five-foot ways.

The title Sandiwara means drama or theatrical performance. So perhaps that is the idea. Five characters, five different roles. A food critic judging. A hawker cooking. A waitress serving. A singer performing. A vlogger documenting. In a place like Malaysia, identity is never just one race. We consist of Chinese, Malay, Indian and others. Both modern and traditional. Both local and global. Maybe that was what they were exploring. I’m guessing here, but it felt like this to me.

Sean Baker himself described the film as a “love letter to Penang.” But he also said that before he could deliver a love letter, he had to fall in love with Penang first. He spent about nine days here before shooting, just immersing himself in our culture. He talked about how inspiring the city was. How he could feel the love people have for the food. And that food culture became central to the film. That part made me smile because understanding Penang doesn’t start with brochures. It starts with the hawker stalls.

What struck me was that this wasn't a tourism commercial. It was not a state-produced promotional video. It was an Oscar-winning director choosing to tell a story here with an Oscar-winning Malaysian actress, and premiering it at one of the biggest film festivals in the world. We spend so much time talking about promoting Penang. Campaigns, slogans, branding exercises and then suddenly, something like this happens almost quietly. And it may do more for Penang’s cultural standing than years of official marketing.

I don’t think we quite fathom what this means. How many Malaysian stories reach a global stage like Berlin? How often is Penang presented not as an exotic postcard but as a living, breathing place worthy of serious cinema?

And this was shot on an iPhone. That detail is important. Sean Baker has always said he values autonomy and creative control. He makes independent films because he doesn’t want stories told by committee. So this choice feels intentional. After winning the highest honours in cinema, he goes back to a stripped-down method. Almost as if to say the story matters more than the equipment.

For Penang, this is not a small thing. Yet I have not read very much reaction from the Penang state government or the Exco in charge of tourism. Maybe I missed it. If I did, I stand corrected. But if not, perhaps we are too used to looking outward for validation that we sometimes miss it when it arrives. Because this, an 11-minute film called Sandiwara, shot quietly in our streets, starring Michelle Yeoh, directed by Sean Baker, premiering in Berlin, this feels significant. It feels like Penang being seen. And for that alone, I can only say thank you.