Mak Yan-Yan is a Hong Kong based female award-winning director. She was born in the 1970s and graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1998. Since 1993, as a student, Mak had worked for the film industry as a continuity girl, assistant director, production manager, art director and wardrobe designer. Her graduation short film Snapshots won the Distinguish Award at the International Short Film & Video Awards of Hong Kong in 1998.

After directing number of short dramas for Radio Television Hong Kong, she established her own production company Lotus Film, to make her own film. Her debut feature film, Gege (Brother), although using a very limited budget, a small crew and an all non-actors cast, was awarded 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, the Woosuk Award at Jeonju International Film Festival in Korea, as well as the Ecumenical Hury Prize at the International Film Festival Bratislavan and Fribourg International Film Festival 2001.

Her second film Butterfly was chosen as the Opening Film at Venice Film Festival Critics Week and Tian Yuan was awarded as the Best New Artist at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005. The film was also nominated at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards in 2004 for Best Adapted Screenplay (Yan Yan Mak) and Best New Performer (Tian Yuan).

Besides feature films, Yan Yan is also active in making short film. Her video projects 'Sarangi', 'Autumn Story', '2 Cartons of Alphabet H', 'August Story' (premiered at Tokyo International Film Festival 2006, awarded 'Best Drama' in South Taiwan Film Festival), 'So Poetic' and 'Angel Catcher' have participated in many international film festivals between 2001-2008.

From 2005, after become the collaborator with Hong Kong singer HOCC (Denise Ho), Yan Yan has produced numeral music videos, music short films and TV Commercials. 'The Scarlet Robe' has won the 'Best Drama' in Big Screen Film Festival, China 2007. They had finished their first feature length film 'The Decameron' (a documentary about madness, under the music project '10 Days in the Madhouse') in 2009.