What a night! It was a full house at the Bushnell Center for the performing arts for the Connecticut premiere of “The Featherweight,” a film about boxing legend Willie Pep. Pep, whose real name was Guglielmo Papaleo was a two time world featherweight champion, who called Hartford home.
The film was a dozen or so years in the planning and was the brainchild of producer writer Steve Loff and actor James Madio who plays the title character. It was filmed in and around the capital city at several sites including the Polish National Home, brownstone row on Capitol Avenue, and a few city parks.
The Featherweight made its world debut at the prestigious Venice Film Festival and it will be shown at other festivals as the team looks for to sign a distribution deal. Stay tuned!
Watch some WTNH interviews from the premiere here:
official photos from the great Nick Caito here: https://nickcaito.zenfolio.com/featherweight-hartford-premiere-vip/hd4c23fd3
Here is more info on the cast: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2352396/
I was honored to have a bit part in the movie, playing a reporter. Last time I worked on a production like this was as an extra on the 1980s crime drama “Spenser for Hire.” More on that here: https://dennishouse.tv/2012/02/02/my-television-debut/ Below are some photos from the Hartford premiere and from some of our coverage on WTNH.
Categories: Hartford
Dennis House blog 
Wonderful to see you not only in person but also on the film! Our Connecticut community is blessed to have you reporting the news for us, while also serving as an emcee for such a spectacular internationally-tinged event for Hartford. May we bring as many great narratives about the successful rise of people from our home state to the world as we can.
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