DIRECTOR

Eigoro Akai *First feature

CAST

Hidekazu Akai “Knockout”, “Maboroshi”

Duration/Release

88 min / Release in Japan: Sep 9, 2022

Introduction

Hidekazu Akai is an actor and a TV personality beloved by generations of Japanese, yet many people today don’t know his career began as a boxer in 1980, racking up a record of 19 wins (16 by knockout) and 2 losses while winning over the country with his indomitable spirit. AKAI is a documentary film about that period directed by Eigoro Akai, a boxer himself, U.S.-trained filmmaker and the actual son of Hidekazu Akai. The documentary follows Akai’s overnight rise to stardom as a boxer to frustrating loss and his battle back from an injury that had only a 20% survival rate.