[2026.10.08] WITH THE MAGE, JOSIE HO PROMOTES HONG KONG FILMS OVERSEAS

Josie Ho (center) with her husband Conroy Chan (left) and Iman (right) attend THE MAGE premiere and says that it feels like coming home

Carlos Chan and Kathy Yueng play a couple in the film and have both argument and intimate scenes
courtesy of mingpao.com

Josie Ho Chiu Yi, Conroy Chan Chi Chung, Iman, Carlos Chan Ka Lok, German Cheung Man Kit, Kathy Yuen (Tong Yee), the directors, the Pang Brothers, and others attended the premiere of the film THE MAGE (SUP FONG FAT SI) in Hong Kong the night before, laughing and talking about the sweat and thrills during the shoot, and building trust from every punch. Also a producer and actress in the film, Ho Chiu Yi revealed that THE MAGE successfully broke the film festival participation record of this year's Hong Kong film and achieved good results at film festivals such as South Korea and Thailand. She said that she would like to thank her colleagues for their efforts and was happy to be able to bring Hong Kong films to the people.

At the premiere the actors shared the production experience on the stage. Cheung Man Kit recalled the action scene with Ho Chiu Yi, joking that at the beginning she was spoiling everyone and holding back in her fights. Thus he took the initiative to encourage Ho Chiu Yi. "Relax and fight, I worked out so I can take a beating from you!" The two gradually meshed as trust slowly grew. For the final collision scene their reaction was real, and he felt that blow "from the top of the skull all the way to the pinky toes." The director joked that at that time he heard a "pop" like a coconut falling to the ground. When he turned around he already saw Cheung Man Kit pressing his head and quietly leaving the set. He was so professional that he has not cried out at all from any pain. Cheung Man Kit explained that he only walked away to check the injury. He did not want to scare everyone. At the time he was indeed a little dizzy and he could not focus his vision for a moment. Fortunately he had no major problem and would continue to shoot. Ho Chiu Yi admitted that after the fight, she was afraid of hurting him. She revealed that in the scene she was supposed to sit on Cheung Man Kit's shoulders; because she could not steady herself, they finally changed the stunt to wrapping her legs around his neck.

THE MAGE has participated in a number of international film festivals and broken the film festival participation records of this year's Hong Kong film. At the time of the interview, Ho Chiu Yi expressed her gratitude to her colleagues for their efforts and was happy to be able to present Hong Kong films to the public. "The premiere in Hong Kong has the feeling of coming home." As for winning he Fantastic Icon Award at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, she saw it as a consolation prize for her continuing efforts and said that she should give a share of the award to the team.

Ho Chiu Yi said that movies like THE MAGE still could not be released in the mainland and could only be sold to Southeast Asia. "I am very happy that I am able to bring Hong Kong films and my own performance to the audience there. The recognition from Southeast Asia to me is a big thing." She said that the new film had such a performance due to the directors, the Pang Brothers, made it well, and the effort the entire cast put in. She even praised Iman as the most handsome in the entire company and lucky, along with the handsome producer Chan Chi Chung and the handsome and beautiful team.

Referring to the physical condition of the film's producer Chan Chi Chung, his wife Ho Chiu Yi said that her husband has been getting better but is very naughty. He often drank coffee and ate fatty food, not listening to the doctor's advice of exercising, drinking more water, and quitting fat. She hoped that her husband should take care of himself more.

Attending film festivals with his first film, Iman admitted that it was a dream came true. Because some actors have not had this opportunity after many years, he would cherish it. Ho Chiu Yi said that her own show business journey has been rugged, so she would try to give Iman an even road to travel. She also said that Iman has learned some Cantonese, and in the next film he would even have longer dialogue. He immediately said in Cantonese, "You don't know what would happen tomorrow. I once had a girlfriend, you have to be enjoy yourself in the moment."

Tong Yee and Chan Ka Lok played a couple in the film. They said that although they have not seen each other for nearly two years before the shoot because they were busy taking care of children, the collaboration has not been rusty as they had chemistry very quickly. Even the director let go and let them rehearse. Regarding having to yell at Ka Lok loudly, Tong Yee smiled and said that Ka Lok told her to just be herself; because when she was not smiling people would say that she was gloomy. Ka Lok asked Tong Yee out of curiosity what she was caught wearing a beautician uniform while waiting in the ramen shop line, Tong Yee said that on the day she only went to a friend's company to get an understanding about investment. Because she had to stay all day, she wore an uniform only for fear of getting her own clothes dirty. She also denied working as a part-time beautician, emphasizing that being an actor was her real full-time job.

Chan Ka Lok's first single in more than 3 years was released recently, he said that on the night before the release he was so afraid that he could not sleep and his mind was blank. "Even at my age I can still be so afraid that I am completely frozen stiff." He thanked his wife Shiga Lin and his friend Ken Hung Cheuk Lap for giving him a lot of advice. His wife asked her music friends to provide him with advice, "The advice my wife has provided is right, but ultimately she isn't a music producer or singing teacher. My ability to understand is bad, finally I have to ask the teacher." He also said that his daughter has listened to the new song but did not respond, maybe she was too young to understand the lyrics. Speaking of both of her parents are singers, Ka Lok pointed out that his wife often sang with their daughter, and he would also let her daughter listen to his wife's song more to cultivate her pitch. He joked, "She would only get better from listening to more good stuff, for professional level of course that has to be Mrs. Chan!"