In 2007, she left Cameroon for Brussels, where she enrolled at the Institut Supérieur des Arts (INSAS) to study film directing. After earning her diploma, she co-directed the short film YOU WILL BE MY ALLY, with Mirko Popovitch for the Belgian cultural co-operation organization Africalia asbl. The film is a portrait of Congolese artist Freddy Tsimba.
Mbakam founded Tandor Productions with Geoffroy Cernaix in 2014, and made her first personal documentary, THE TWO FACES OF A BAMILEKE WOMAN through the company. Released in 2017, it was an official selection in some 60 festivals, including IFFR Rotterdam, and won awards around the world.
Her second feature-length documentary, CHEZ JOLIE COIFFURE, was released in 2018. It had its world premiere at DOK Leipzig and has screened as an official selection at dozens of festivals. She quickly followed up with DELPHINE'S PRAYERS and co-directed PRISM along with Eléonore Yameogo and An van. Dienderen. PRISM premiered at the New York Film Festival in 2021.