Rohan Spong
Rohan Spong (born 15 September 1981) is an Australian film director and photographer. He is best known for his feature documentaries.
Rohan studied film theory and practice at the University of Melbourne. Whilst living in Los Angeles in 2008, Rohan assembled his first feature-length documentary T is for Teacher (2009), about the experiences of four transgender school teachers in American schools. The film screened at a number of international festivals alongside Oscar contenders later that year.[1] It was named by two Australian reviewers as amongst the best films to screen in Australian cinemas in 2009.[2]
In late 2011, Rohan completed another feature documentary All The Way Through Evening, about the music composed in New York's East Village amidst the early years of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The film premiered in New York's East Village on 1 December 2011 (World AIDS Day). Rohan and the film's main subject (elderly concert pianist Mimi Stern-Wolfe) were invited as guests of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on World AIDS Day 2011 as part of an annual event held at Gracie Mansion.[3] In June 2012, Rohan indicated via his Twitter account that there were plans for a series of charity screenings of the film in different cities worldwide on 1 December 2012 (World AIDS Day).[4]
All The Way Through Evening opened to critical acclaim and four star reviews in Australia on 29 November 2012. Phillipa Hawker of The Age newspaper described the film as: "A graceful story of music and memory", rating the film four stars.[5] Don Groves of SBS marvelled at Spong's ability to single handedly bring the story to cinema: "Multi-tasking as director, producer, cinematographer and editor, Spong has crafted a handsome-looking production despite working on a frugal budget. It’s an impressive effort"[6] and also gave the film four stars. Richard Watts of Artshub also gave the film four stars and named it amongst his most favourate films of the year, describing it as: "an important film, and a beautiful one.".[7] Australian magazine FilmInk surmised the film as "an incredibly affecting and important piece of cinema".[8]
All The Way Through Evening was nominated for the Australian Film Critic's Association Award for Best Documentary of 2012, but ultimately lost to the Best Documentary Oscar Winner Searching For Sugar Man.
Despite only expecting to run for a week in each city, the film ran for a total of thirteen weeks at Melbourne's Cinema Nova, outlasting a number of big budget films including The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Celeste And Jesse Forever and Perks of Being a Wallflower, closing in late February 2013.
All The Way Through Evening finally opened theatrically in New York City at the Village East Cinema, on 6 December 2013. It was invited to screen at the The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. on 25 June 2014. Spong and the film's subject, Mimi Stern-Wolfe attended this screening.
Rohan is currently working on the follow up to All The Way Through Evening. The film is also set in New York City, and provisionally entitled Winter At Westbeth.[9]
References
- ↑ Scottsdale International Film Festival. "T is for Teacher". Festival Genius. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ↑ Caldwell, Thomas. "Top Ten Films of 2009". Cinema Autopsy. Retrieved 6 Jan 2010.
- ↑ "Mayor Bloomberg Breakfast". Rohan Spong. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ↑ Spong, Rohan. "Personal Twitter Page". Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ↑ Hawker, Phillipa (29 Nov 2012). "Poignant, quietly inspiring tale blends art and action". The Age. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ↑ Groves, Don. "All The Way Through Evening | Review". 26 Nov 2012. SBS. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ↑ Watts, Richard. "All The Way Through Evening". 26 Nov 2012. ArtsHub. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ↑ Johnson, Travis (26 Nov 2012). "All The Way Through Evening Review". FilmInk. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ↑ http://www.rohanspong.net