Benz Kong Tao-hoi

Biography

Benz Kong Tao-hoi was born in Hong Kong in 1956 into a family of acrobats and magicians. His grandfather was a strongman performer from mainland China, and his parents ran a theatre at Lai Yuen amusement park. He trained in acrobatics and stage performance from childhood under an apprenticeship system, and performed alongside stars like Zhang Delan and Mui Yim Fong at Lai Yuen. He joined the film industry in 1975 as a stunt double and made his on-screen debut in the 1979 film "肥龙功夫精". In 1983 he became an action choreographer, excelling at designing magic and card tricks for the gambling films popular in the 1990s. He frequently collaborated with Dong Wei on action design and also worked with director Wong Kar-wai on films such as "暴雨驕陽". His expertise earned him Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Award nominations for Best Action Design, notably for "天下無賊" (2004), "暴雨驕陽" (1994), and "武替道" (2024). In 2007 he made his directorial debut with "雙子神偷", which earned him a Hong Kong Film Award nomination for Best Action Design. He continued to design magic for the 2012 film "大魔術師", and later became active in mainland China as a director and action director on productions such as "精武陳真", "虎山行", and "忽必烈傳奇".