Yan Yan Mak is a renowned Hong Kong-based female film director, born in the 1970s, who graduated from the prestigious Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1998.
Prior to her graduation, Mak had already gained extensive experience in the film industry, working as a continuity girl, assistant director, production manager, art director, and wardrobe designer since 1993, while still a student. Her graduation short film, Snapshots, won the Distinguished Award at the International Short Film & Video Awards of Hong Kong in 1998.
Following her success with short dramas for Radio Television Hong Kong, Mak established her own production company, Lotus Film, to produce her own films. Her debut feature film, Gege (Brother),was made on a limited budget with a small crew and an all-non-actors cast, yet it received widespread acclaim, winning several awards at prominent film festivals, including the FIPRESCI Award at the 25th Hong Kong International Film Festival, the POVEGLIA Award at the International Week of Film Critics of the 58th Venice Film Festival, and the Woosuk Award at the Jeonju International Film Festival in Korea.
Mak's second film, Butterfly, was chosen as the Opening Film at the Venice Film Festival Critics Week and Tian Yuan was awarded Best New Artist at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005. The film was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best New Performer at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards in 2004.
In addition to feature films, Mak is also active in making short films. Her video projects, including 'Sarangi', 'Autumn Story', '2 Cartons of Alphabet H', 'August Story', 'So Poetic', and 'Angel Catcher', have participated in numerous international film festivals between 2001-2008.
From 2005, Mak collaborated with Hong Kong singer HOCC (Denise Ho) and produced several music videos, music short films, and TV commercials. 'The Scarlet Robe' won the 'Best Drama' award at the Big Screen Film Festival, China in 2007. They completed their first feature-length film, 'The Decameron' (a documentary about madness, under the music project '10 Days in the Madhouse') in 2009.
Mak has recently completed her new feature, 'Merry-Go-Round' (Dong Feng Po),which is set to be released in Fall 2010 at Hong Kong.
