Martino Flynn senior video editor Anthony DeLuca has collaborated with Rochester native and Academy Award nominee Robert Bilheimer and his crew to create the breakthrough documentary on the global AIDS epidemic, “A Closer Walk.” The trailer for “A Closer Walk” was recently shown at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. The film will be nationally broadcast in its entirety on PBS August 31.

Originally released in 2003, “A Closer Walk” takes a world tour of the epicenters of the AIDS pandemic, from Africa to Asia to Europe to America. The film explores the global scope and impact of AIDS and aims to counteract the ignorance and denial surrounding the AIDS crisis. Bilheimer and cinematographer Richard Young interviewed more than 75 people in over a dozen countries, including orphaned children, doctors, and famous leaders such as the Dalai Lama and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Narrated by Glenn Close and Will Smith, “A Closer Walk” is the first film to depict humankind’s confrontation with the AIDS crisis and the social conditions that breed epidemics. Major sponsors of the film include General Motors and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others.

Since it first premiered at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2003, “A Closer Walk” has been featured at the Tribeca Film Festival and has premiered at Lincoln Center in New York City, and in Kansas City, Kiev, New Delhi, Johannesburg, Durban, Bangkok, and Phnom Penh. It has also been broadcast nationally on South African and Canadian television networks.

In addition, “A Closer Walk” has been shown at hundreds of schools and college campuses around the world, has been used as a primary education and awareness tool by organizations such as the United Nations, and has been included in AIDS advocacy and education campaigns. Oprah Winfrey has featured excerpts from “A Closer Walk” on two of her previous World AIDS Day broadcasts as well.

Throughout the three-year development of the documentary, DeLuca worked closely with Bilheimer and Young, editing and refining over 100 hours of footage into an 85-minute film. DeLuca is currently incorporating additional footage shot in Brazil and the U.S. into the documentary. As senior video editor at Martino Flynn, DeLuca is responsible for editing and post-producing television spots and corporate communications videos for agency clients.

“Working on ‘A Closer Walk’ has opened my eyes to a world that I never knew existed,” said DeLuca. “And being able to help make a difference while doing what I love is really satisfying.”