Rohan Spong

All The Way Through Evening is already filmed and edited…

…BUT we need your help to launch it at a New York Cinema this December and then worldwide in 2012.

A MOVING FILM TO RAISE AWARENESS

All The Way Through Evening (75 mins) is the story of Mimi Stern-Wolfe - a charismatic East Villager who has tirelessly promoted and performed the classical musical works of New York City composers who were lost to HIV/AIDS in the first wave of the pandemic. This musical documentary intercuts the eyewitness accounts of the friends, family and collaborators of some of these men with the hauntingly evocative compositions they created – as performed at Mimi’s concert series.

Directed by Rohan Spong, this moving film is a sombre reminder of the devastation that unfolded as the infection was discovered in early 1980s. Decades later, the film highlights the need for continued prevention education, access to therapies for patients and further medical research in the hope of one day finding a cure. The film's soundtrack showcases the beautiful (and rarely performed) musical works that were created in times of great adversity and which tell the story of HIV/AIDS in New York in an evocative and compelling new way.

Whilst the issue of HIV/AIDS has not been as widely publicized in recent years, the pandemic is still very much with us. The death toll of HIV/AIDS related deaths is now estimated at being more than 30 million. Over 33 million adults and children are now living with HIV. Woldwide statistics reveal that in parts of Africa, as much as 5% of the population has been infected by the pandemic*. 

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Whilst the film has a preview screening booked for World AIDS Day (Dec 1 - at the Duo Theatre in New York City’s East Village) – it still requires a dedicated sound mix, a color grade, prints, publicity and film festival entry fees.

There is already an offer to screen the film for a week at  a cinema in the East Village but we need assistance in raising the required funds to make it happen.

Beyond this special season, It is our intention to also have the film screening worldwide as part of major film festivals, in independent cinemas, on television networks and pay-per-view.

BE PART OF OUR PREMIERE *AND* HELP US BRING THE FILM TO PEOPLE EVERYWHERE

This World AIDS Day, we’re inviting you to our premiere, regardless of where in the world you may be. For donations (to assist us with circulating the film) of $50.00 or more, you can be one of the first to see this important film via secure link from Dec 1 2011 (World AIDS Day).

WHO ARE WE?

ROHAN SPONG : DIRECTOR

Rohan Spong is an award winning Australian documentary filmmaker whose debut feature T IS FOR TEACHER was named by two critics as amongst the best films to screen in Australia in 2009**. It has been screened at film festivals all over the world and won the Audience Choice award at the 2009 LIGLFF. His second film THE SONGS THEY SANG (2010) dealt with music composed by the imprisoned Jewish people of  Nazi oppressed Vilna Ghetto during the Holocaust, and was shot all in 5 languages and 7 countries. Whilst researching SONGS, he met Mimi Stern-Wolfe and in Oct 2010 returned to New York in order to single handedly film, record and edit ALL THE WAY THROUGH EVENING. He teaches film production at RMIT and also works commercially on music videos, photography and educational film. 

MIMI STERN-WOLFE : PERFORMER / CONCERT PRODUCER

Mimi Stern-Wolfe is the Artistic Director of Downtown Music Productions. She studied with pianists Ray Lev and Leonid Hambro, graduated Phi-Beta Kappa from Queens College, received a Masters in Music from New England Conservatory, and did graduate studies in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. An accomplished pianist, Ms. Stern-Wolfe has performed throughout the United States, including at The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Over several years, Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) Re-Discovered; Lost and Found (Ervin Schulhoff and Kurt Weill) were presented at Merkin Hall in order to introduce Schulhoff's music to the public. In 1989, a series of Composers of the Holocaust concerts which offered the music of lost Terezin and Eastern European composers to audiences. She also teaches Opera at the School of Visual Arts and conducts a Community and Senior Chorus at the Sol Goldman "Y". She has been performing HIV/AIDS themed music, annually, for over 20 years in New York's East Village. She has received the Mayor's only Very Special Arts Award in Music for her "exceptional contribution to the arts and multicultural life of New York City." 

Why not follow the film on FACEBOOK?

We are building a website for the film HERE!

*Statistics taken from the UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic (published 2010). At the end of 2009, the statistics for prevalence of the disease in Sub-Saharan African adults was 5.0%

**Thomas Caldwell (The Age, The Big issue, Senses of Cinema, Filmink, RRR Cinema Autopsy) and Richard Watts (RRR, Artshub, MCV).