The bipartisan Arizona film tax credit program has been embroiled in a legal battle over its constitutionality. Less than $1 million in credits have been approved so far for qualifying film productions, with millions more in the process.
One production the credits helped out is an independent film based on the western-most Civil War battle at Picacho Peak.
The filmmakers of “The War Between” shot it in the state’s Sonoran desert. The backdrop is the Civil War, the main characters are soldiers on opposite sides. But the film’s director, Deborah Correa, says the film doesn’t focus on what was a real battle in southern Arizona.
Instead it forces the soldiers, and other characters into a fictional survive-the-desert scenario unveiling a complex theme of peace and humanity.
“And because it was such a uniquely Arizona story," Correa said, "and the fact that we could shoot where the battle took place at the base of Picacho Peak was such a huge draw for me as a director. The authenticity of that, it meant a lot and it meant a lot to the local crew and the local cast as well.”
Sage Hemstreet of Glendale played an unnamed Navajo leader who helps soldiers on both sides.
“I think it really goes against some Western stereotypes that if you see a lot of Natives in Westerns, they’re always the bad guy," Hemstreet, who is Navajo Laguna Pueblo, said. "They always are the antagonist to the protagonist. They’re always trying to kill the main character. And you see her have empathy for this character, where you know she has the upper ground.”
The film has been shown at multiple festivals and in theatres for a limited time. It will be available on streaming in November.
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The Roosevelt School District in south Phoenix has renamed Cesar Chavez Community School to Rio Vista Community School. It’s the latest in a slew of name changes across the state in the wake of sexual abuse allegations against the late civil rights activist. -
Up until Congress passed the landmark Indian Reorganization Act, tribes weren’t fully seen as sovereign in the eyes of the U.S. Most of them didn’t have constitutions either. That all changed in 1934. -
According to witnesses, a white man — believed to be in his 60s or 70s — fell while standing atop furniture inside the Desert View Watchtower. Staff rendered first aid to the visitor, who left before law enforcement was dispatched on June 17. -
Those original inhabitants were labeled by writers Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston as so-called “merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” -
This so-called Freedom Rock is now the crown jewel of Prescott Valley — a hand-painted tribute to some of the Grand Canyon State’s military heroes, featuring portraits of Ira Hamilton Hayes, Lori Ann Piestewa, Navajo Code Talkers and Pat Tillman.
