Michelle Yeoh wiped away tears as she accepted an Honourary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement at the Berlinale, but said it marked not the end of her career but a step to greater things to come.

“I feel an immense sense of gratitude, a quiet sense of wonder,” Yeoh said on the stage of the Berlinale Palaste in rainswept Berlin for the red carpet opening gala of the 76^th edition of the film festival on Thursday night.

“Lifetime achievement is a very big phrase. Sounds like a conclusion, but I prefer to think of it as a pause, a moment to breathe. To look back. And then to keep walking forward carefully, of course,” she said, adding, to laughter: “So no one takes this bear back!”

The Oscar-winning Yeoh, who was born in Malaysia and got her start in Asian fight films, has become a world-celebrated actress, known for her starring roles in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, “Wicked,” “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” and “The Lady”.

The award was presented to Yeoh by Sean Baker, director of the Oscar-winner “Anora”, who has directed Yeoh in the 11-minute short film “Sandiwara”. It is being premiered at the Berlinale in conjunction with a showing of “Everything Everywhere All At Once”.

The short is described in the Berlinale programme as “a bold, immersive celebration of womanhood, cultural identity, culinary heritage and the spirit of independent cinema”.