Yan Yan Mak
| Yan Yan Mak | |
|---|---|
 Mak at the 2010 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival | |
| Chinese name | 麥婉欣 (traditional) |
| Chinese name | 麦婉欣 (simplified) |
| Pinyin | Mài Wănxīn (Mandarin) |
| Jyutping | Maak6 Jyun2 Jan1 (Cantonese) |
| Origin | Hong Kong |
Yan Yan MAK 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, Yan Yan 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 Dragonfly J Ltd., 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 (Hudie) was chosen as the Opening Film at Venice Film Festival Critics Week, the Hong Kong Gay & Lesbian Film and Video Film Festival 2004 and Creteil International Women Film Festival in France 2005. 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 Supporting Actor (Eric Kot).
From 2005, after become the collaborator with Hong Kong singer Cantopop singer 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.
Yan Yan completed her another feature ‘Merry-Go-Round’ (Dong Feng Po) in 2010 @ Hong Kong. It had been elected as the Best Chinese-Language Film from Film Critics China, nominated at The Hong Kong Film Award 2011 for the Best Cinematography Award and won the Best Film Song Award ("Here to Stay" by Jun Kung), won the Best Actress(Ella Koon) and the Best Actor (Teddy Robin) at Australia Golden Koala Film Festival.
Yan Yan's latest work 'The Great War' (a documentary about 'Grasshopper x Softhard Concert 2012’) has just had its Gala premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival 2013. It is still on tour now while Yan Yan is preparing her new feature film '11:11'.