This year’s El Paso Community Foundation Plaza Classic Film Festival will celebrate its 19th anniversary and is set for Thursday, July 16 through Sunday, July 26.
Doug Pullen, program director, is excited to share some insights into what festival goers can expect this year, about three general themes, some free films at the Mexican American Cultural Center, plenty of family movies in the Philanthropy Theatre and some free outdoor movies on July 17-18 and July 24-25.
“We have three main threads this year, though plenty of the programming is unrelated to them,” he said.
Plaza Classic Film Festival movies themes
The biggest thread is called Music Movies. It ranges from Elvis to Eminem, with Disney’s “Fantasia” included. It covers about 20 films in all, including free rock documentaries and concert films at the El Paso Museum of Art – “Woodstock”, “Gimme Shelter”, “The Last Waltz”, “20 Feet from Stardom”, and “Summer of Soul” – biopics such as “Selena”, “What’s Love Got to Do With It”, (Tina Turner’s autobiographical film), “Purple Rain”, “Sid & Nancy”, and “8 Mile”, and movies based on albums – “Pink Floyd The Wall”, “Tommy”.
“It also includes a couple of rock musicals, our 18th annual free, outdoor showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 18, on Oregon Street and the return of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”, created by El Paso native John Cameron Mitchell,” Pullen said.
There’s a thread called Americana, which is a nod to the semi-quincentennial and includes a random array of movies that touch on U.S. history or culture, such as “All the President’s Men”, “Young Mr. Lincoln”, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, and Disney’s “Pocahontas”, among others.
“Then Our Disaster! thread will tie together one of the classic ‘70s disaster films, “The Poseidon Adventure”, the early ‘80s movie that killed the ‘70s disaster trend, “Airplane!”, and three modern disaster films — “Jurassic Park” (which stars the late Sam Neill), “Titanic” and “The Day After Tomorrow”, a portion of which was shot in El Paso,” Pullen said.
Silent Films
Walt Strony returns to accompany two silent films on the Plaza Theatre’s original Wyler Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ. One is called “It”, starring Clara Bow, and is credited with popularizing the term “it girl,” at 4 p.m. Sunday, July 19.
The other is Buster Keaton’s “The General”, 100 years old this year, a comedy based on a true story from the Civil War.
Plaza Classic Film Festival guests
This year’s special guests are Ann-Margret and Gregory Nava.
“She’s been a huge star for many years and someone we’ve wanted to have as our guest for a long time. We’re honored she agreed to appear at our festival this year,” Pullen said.
Ann-Margret will appear for interviews before screenings of “Bye Bye Birdie”, the movie that made her a big star, at 7 p.m. Friday, July 17 (tickets are $20), and “Tommy” for which she was Oscar nominated, at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, July 18 (tickets are $10). Both are in the Plaza Theatre.
Writer-director Nava, who has three films in the National Film Registry, will appear for interviews before screenings of “Selena”, which he wrote and directed, at 7 p.m. Friday, July 24 and “El Norte”, the movie that put him on the map, at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 25. Both are in the Plaza Theatre. Tickets are $10 for each event.
“He’s one of the most successful Mexican American writer-directors of all time. His other credits include “My Family”, and “Frida”, so we’re anxious to hear what insights he can share with our audiences,” Pullen said.
Plaza Classic Film Festival features free outdoor movies, children’s films
There will be free outdoor movies on July 17-18 and July 24-25, with bands opening up, on Oregon Street. There will also be three free films at the Mexican American Cultural Center, including “Real Women Have Curves”, and “My Family”.
Families can look forward to several children’s/family movies in the Philanthropy Theatre, mostly weekday matinees, including “The Secret Life of Pets”, “Zootopia” and “Inside Out”.
Plaza Classic Film Festival Local Flavor showcase, awards
The annual Local Flavor Showcase and Awards will be held at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, July 26, in the Plaza Theatre. It will showcase eight short films selected by a trio of judges from more than 60 submissions.
“We also are inaugurating the first UTEP/EPCC Student Film Showcase at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 18, in the Philanthropy Theatre. It will be preceded by El Paso filmmaker Valeria Contreras’ work-in-progress, “Oranges”, at 7:30 p.m. and followed by Robert Holguin’s music documentary, “Blood, Sweat, and Beers”, at 11 p.m., forming a block of locally connected films on each weekend,” Pullen said.
Prior to Valeria’s program, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers will open its new El Paso hub with a reception in the Foundation Room.
How to get Plaza Classic Film Fest tickets
Ticket prices remain low — $5 for matinees, $6 for evenings in the Philanthropy; $6 for matinees, $8 for evenings in the Plaza Theatre. Tickets are on sale at the Plaza Theatre Box Office and Ticketmaster.com. Passes are available at plazaclassic.com/tickets.
María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @eptmaria.bsky.social on Bluesky, and @eptmariacg on TikTok.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Plaza Classic Film Festival guide: guests, movie themes, outdoor films
Reporting by Maria Cortes Gonzalez, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Maria Cortes Gonzalez, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
