Rohan Spong is an Australian documentary film director best known for his films ''

All the Way Through Evening ''All the Way Through Evening'' is a 2011 documentary film that chronicles pianist and concert producer Mimi Stern-Wolfe as she prepares for her annual concert of music written by New York City composers lost to HIV/AIDS. Dubbed The Benson AIDS ...

'' and ''

Winter at Westbeth Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Differe ...

''.

Early life and education

Rohan Spong studied film theory and practice at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

Career

While living in Los Angeles in 2008, Spong assembled his first feature-length documentary ''T is for Teacher'' (2009), about the experiences of four

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

school teachers in American schools. The film screened at a number of international festivals alongside

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

contenders later that year. It was named by two Australian reviewers as among the best films to screen in Australian cinemas in 2009. In late 2011, Spong completed the feature documentary ''

'', about music composed in New York's East Village during the early years of the

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

pandemic. The film premiered in East Village on 1 December 2011 (

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immu ...

). Spong and the film's main subject (elderly concert pianist Mimi Stern-Wolfe) were invited as guests of New York Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

on World AIDS Day 2011 as part of an annual event held at

Gracie Mansion Gracie Mansion (also Archibald Gracie Mansion) is the official residence of the mayor of New York City. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and 88th Street in the Yorkville, Manhattan, Yorkville neighborhood of ...

. ''All the Way Through Evening'' opened theatrically to critical acclaim and four-star reviews in Australia on 29 November 2012. In 2014, Spong announced that he was working on a new film, ''Winter at Westbeth''. The film charts a year in the life of

Westbeth Artists Community Westbeth Artists Housing is a non-profit housing, nonprofit housing and commercial complex dedicated to providing affordable living and working space for artists and New York City arts organizations, arts organizations in New York City. The comp ...

in New York City and profiles the lives of three ageing artists, including iconic

Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Cent ...

and

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

dancer Dudley Williams. It also features a brief appearance by ''All the Way Through Evening'' participant Mimi Stern-Wolfe. The film had its world premiere at the 60th

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. , the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

in June 2016, before screening at the 65th

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

in August. The film then screened in competition at

IFC Center IFC Center is an art house movie theater in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. Located at 323 Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) at West 3rd Street, it was formerly the Waverly Theater, an art house movie theater. IFC Center is ...

as part of

Doc NYC Doc NYC (stylized as DOC NYC) is an annual documentary film festival in New York City. Co-founded by Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen, the festival is the country's largest documentary film festival with over 300 films and events and 250 specia ...

, where it received a Special Jury Mention, before a screening at

The Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

in Washington, D.C. In November 2016. Spong and one of the film's participants, poet Ilsa Gilbert, attended this screening.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spong, Rohan Australian film directors Australian photographers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)