Sandiwara, Short Film from Sean Baker

Featured in The Wonderlyst #111

In the ten-minute short Sandiwara, Michelle Yeoh doesn’t just star — she multiplies, embodying five women as she weaves through the electric streets and night-markets of Penang with Sean Baker (director of Anora) behind the lens. Shot in Yeoh’s home country as part of fashion label Self-Portrait’s Residency, the film moves through neon shop signs, market chatter, motorbikes, incense smoke, hawker stalls, and the saturated color that defines the island after dark. The title comes from the Malay and Indonesian word for “drama” or “theatrical performance,” and Yeoh embodies this, shifting between The Hawker, The Vlogger, The Waitress, The Critic, and The Singer. I won’t spoil the ending, but this is a lovely visual delight of a film!