Sean Baker on His ‘Instantaneous Connection’ With Michelle Yeoh on Set of Short ‘Sandiwara’ and His Next Film: ‘My Love Letter to Italian Sex Comedies of the ’60s and ’70s’

George Jiglea

Just 24 hours after Sean Baker arrived in Penang, Malaysia, to shoot “Sandiwara” — the Oscar-winning director’s new short film starring Michelle Yeoh — he threw his initial script out the window. “It was ridiculous,” Baker tells Variety in a quiet corner of the Ritz Carlton in Berlin, where the short premiered on Friday. “It was like exactly what someone from the outside would be writing from their couch in West Hollywood.” 'Sholay' Studio Sippy Films Maps Character IP Rollout Across Animation,