Tuckman Media will release The Featherweight, Emmy winner Robert Kolodny’s (cinematographer of Procession and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed) feature directorial debut which follows the true story of the legendary 2x World Featherweight boxing champion Willie Pep.
The impressive cast is led by James Madio (The Penguin, Band of Brothers) with a career best performance as Pep, alongside Ruby Wolf in her feature debut, Keir Gilchrist (Love & Death, Atypical), Stephen Lang (Avatar Franchise), Ron Livingston (The Flash, Loudermilk) Lawrence Gilliard Jr (The Walking Dead, One Night in Miami…), undefeated professional featherweight boxer Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, and Hartford local Imma Aiello in her own big-screen debut as Mama Papaleo, Willie Pep’s mother.
The film will open in theaters across Pep’s hometown state of Connecticut on September 20th. It had its world premiere last year at the 80th Venice International Film Festival with a six-minute standing ovation and currently has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Set in the mid-1960s in Hartford, Connecticut, The Featherweight presents a gripping chapter in the true-life story of Italian American boxer Willie Pep (James Madio)—the winningest fighter of all time—who, down and out in his mid-40s and with his personal life in shambles, decides to make a return to the ring, at which point a documentary camera crew enters his life. Painstakingly researched and constructed, the film is a visceral portrait of the discontents of twentieth-century American masculinity, fame and self-perception.
Many executive producers on the movie are Connecticut-based, including Dan Adams, Greg Butler, Donna Collins, Mark Contreras, Manon Cox, Angelo DeFazio, Robert Feiner, Karl Krapek, Alan Lazowski, Robert Patricelli, and John Wolfson. Hartford producer Joe Young co-produced. The film was supported in full by George Norfleet and Mark Dixon of the State Film Office and State Representative James Sanchez. The production was endorsed and supported by former Mayor Luke Bronin and Governor Ned Lamont.
The movie filmed in local institutions like Pratalona Social Club, The Hartford Club, The Polish National Home, The West Indian Social Club, Carbone’s, Hartford PAL Gym on Broad Street, Four Ropes Boxing, and Bushnell Park, to name a few.
Real Art Ways will host a sneak preview of the movie on September 18th. Also on the 18th, Charter Oak Boxing Academy (COBA) – where James Madio trained for the role of Pep and where most of the fight choreography was rehearsed – will host a press conference with select cast and producers at 5:30 p.m. in front of the Willie Pep mural on Pope Park Highway. The producers and cast will also revisit various filming sites throughout the day to promote the September 20th opening of the film.
Following its Venice Film Festival premiere, The Featherweight played film festivals around the world, including the Provincetown International Film Festival where Kolodny received the John Schlesinger Award for Best Director of a narrative film. The picture has been praised for its technical aspects as it recreates the 60s in vivid detail and intersperses staged and archival boxing footage, framing the narrative through the lens of a documentary crew following Pep as he comes out of retirement and returns to the ring. Madio prepared for the role by training with John “The Iceman” Scully who knew Pep for over 30 years, and was trained by one of Pep’s training partners, Joe Barile. Scully put Madio through months of training so he could accurately capture the techniques and movement of Pep.
“It is a thrill to present The Featherweight to audiences, a film that our brilliant cast and exceptional crew so diligently put their entire hearts into. The story of Willie Pep is such an American tale, one of great highs and terrible lows. He is not only a world class prizefighter on the verge of coming undone, but he is also the quintessential mid-century man, with all his faults and fissures laid bare before the camera,” said Kolodny.
Executive Producer Donna Collins of Rocky Hill stated that “The making of The Featherweight in our beloved Hartford is a case study on how filmmaking can create community pride, honor the legacy of a hometown hero, and provide local economic impact. More than a film production, it is a community collaboration.”
“Producers have been trying to bring Willie Pep’s story to the big screen for decades and we are thrilled and honored to finally get it done. Pep has the most wins in boxing history and most have never heard of him. We’re hoping The Featherweight will change that while also solidifying his legacy as one of the greatest to ever lace them up,” added writer and producer Steve Loff.
Loff (Desert Rain) wrote the script and produced in addition to Madio, Bennett Elliott, Robert Greene (who also edited the film), Asger Hussain and Abhayanand Singh. Executive Producers also include two-time Oscar nominee Steve James, Jennifer Davisson, Michael Hampton, Brian Liebman and Mark Hantoot.