Living Hell

Dante's Arizona premières at Alwun House

A A A Comments (0) By Niki D'Andrea and Julie Peterson and Joe Watson and Amy Young Thursday, Jul 14 2005

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SAT 7/16
Dante got it wrong: There are actually 10 circles of hell, and local filmmaker Nicholas Holthaus has been there and back making Dante's Arizona, which premières Saturday, July 16, at the Alwun House, 1204 East Roosevelt. "Four people have died during the making of this film, including my mother and a good friend," says Holthaus, 34. "And I recruited too many flakes -- dozens of them -- to help out. It would have been done three years ago, but this is Arizona."

And it's a film almost as much about the Grand Canyon State -- and its music scene -- as it is a "crime drama" and "dark comedy," Holthaus says. The southern Illinois transplant, who's been in the Valley for 15 years now, pays homage to old-school Tempe rock bands like Dead Hot Workshop and the Gin Blossoms -- and to the scene they created back in the late 1980s and early '90s -- by including the aforementioned (as well as Gloritone, Hans Olson, and Flathead) on the film's soundtrack, and by filming about half of the movie at institutions such as Long Wong's, Nita's Hideaway and Casey Moore's.

"It was when we first started filming about five years ago that you really started to see Mill Avenue get incorporated," Holthaus says. "I realized these places weren't going to be around much longer, so they're very prominent in the film."

courtesy of Nicholas Holthaus

A scene from Dante's Arizona

The film starts at 9 p.m., with doors opening at 8. Admission is $3. Call 602-253-7887 or see www.dantesarizona.com. -- Joe Watson