[2024.06.27] NICK CHEUNG WOULD BE HONORED AT THE MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Nick Cheung would receive the Malaysia International Film Festival Award for Excellent Achievement.  He thanks the Festival for the recognition

PEG O' MY HEART stars Terrance Lau, Nick Cheung, Fala Chen and Natalie Hsu
courtesy of mingpao.com

The 7th Malaysia International Film Festival recently announced that the winner of this year's "Award for Excellent Achievement" is the two-time Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor, actor and director Nick Cheung Ka Fai. Ka Fai's new film PEG O' MY HEART (SHOOK MUNG) will become the closing film of the film festival.

This year's Malaysia International Film Festival (MIF) would take place from July 21st to 28th. PEG O' MY HEART once again caught attention of an overseas Film Festival after the Udine Far East Film Festival and Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea. In addition the festival would present the "Award for Excellent Achievement" to him, Ka Fai felt deeply excited. "Thank you to the film selection committee of different film festivals, at the same time I also thank the festival's recognition of me in the film industry. If time permits I would definitely attend in person."

Ka Fai has a deep connection to Malaysia. The first film he directed and starred in, the 2014 release HUNGRY GHOST RITUAL (YU LAN SUN GUNG), was in collaboration with Malaysian filmmakers and shot there. Returning to Malaysia as a director this time, Ka Fai joked that he had to find someone to "sleep with" when filming. "At that time I was making a ghost movies in Malaysia; but because I was afraid of ghosts, I once had to find a 'sleep companion'."

PEG O' MY HEART has yet to be released, but has already received attention and support from film festivals all over. Would Ka Fai have more confidence in the film's performance? He admitted that he did not dare to have too much expectations for the box office. He also humorously shared his views on the current film market. "Too many people like movies, so everyone thinks they are experts. Are they inaccurate when they play experts? Not necessarily. People in the industry are really experts, but some have fallen so badly that even Ma wouldn't recognize them -- including myself. This is the magic of movies, a combination of creativity, art, gambling and life all into one; to put it simply, it is a hustle. In recent years most of the sailing haven't been smooth, so people who still work hard in the industry actually all love movies. As for the box office results, I would like to quote one of my own lines. 'Even Jesus can't predict the box office. There, I said it.' In short, be determined to seek innovation, hand over sincerity, act prudently, and pray for more blessings yourself."