Director Robert Kolodny ‘s “ The Featherweight ” tells the story of Willie Pep (James Madio), a retired boxing champ who decides to make a return to the ring in the mid-1960s when he’s well past his prime, accompanied by a documentary crew. It’s a true story, and although “ The Featherweight ” is not a documentary, it appropriates the cinematic language of the documentary to incredible effect. Kolodny and his team (production designer Sonia Foltarz, editor Robert Greene , costume designer Naomi Wolff Lachter, and cinematographer Adam Kolodny , the director’s younger brother) replicate the look and feel of 1960s cinéma vérité with such detail and accuracy that you’ll swear you’re watching something from the era right from the opening frames.
To learn how to achieve the desired effects, Kolodny went straight to the source, studying 1960s documentaries by Frederick Wiseman, D.A. Pennebaker, and Albert and David Maysles.
“Adam and I developed a shorthand for how we would block out scenes, largely based on how Al Maysles would shoot,” Kolodny told IndieWire. “He would always put himself in the corner on a wide lens, and as he felt he was in a safe place covering the scene, he would punch in and then pivot around the room, getting reaction shots and some close-ups. We presumed that would be our main style of shooting, and then on a case-by-case basis we would veer off into a Pennebaker style, which is a little more kinetic.
” Although “The Feather.