The 11th El Paso Community Foundation Plaza Classic Film Festival is now accepting submissions for Local Flavor, the region’s largest showcase of locally made and connected films.
The non-competitive film series, sponsored by the Texas Film Commission, features short and feature-length films of various types, including fiction, documentary, animated, experimental and music video.
There is no entry fee. It’s FREE. Entry deadline is 11:59 p.m. June 15 , 2018.
Submissions may be made here.
Any type of film may be submitted. No works-in-progress will be accepted. Projects must have been completed January 1, 2017 or after, and must be made locally, locally set or have a connection of some kind to the El Paso-Juarez-Las Cruces area (such as a director originally from El Paso). Entries selected for the Local Flavor series will be announced in July.
This year’s Local Flavor series will be curated by El Paso filmmaker Zach Passero, who has been involved with the Plaza Classic Film Festival since it began in 2008. He has worked as a director, producer, editor, animator and actor on films such as Wicked Lake, Motel, Glimpse, All Cheerleaders Die, The Woman, By the River and James and the Giant Peach.
The Plaza Classic Film Festival celebrates its 11th anniversary August 2-12, 2018 in and around the Plaza Theatre in downtown El Paso.
Previous Local Flavor showcases have included works by At the Drive-In/The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez Lopez, cinematographer Ellie Ann Fenton, and NMSU Creative Media Institute faculty members Ilana Lapid and Ross Marks.
Call 915-533-4020 or email us at local@plazaclassic.com for more information.
Remember how much fun it was at last year’s El Paso Community Foundation Plaza Classic Festival? Jaws with Richard Dreyfuss, Romancing the Stone with Kathleen Turner, The Secret of NIMH with Don Bluth and Gary Goldman? Snow White and Casablanca on the big screen? Fungi Mungle reunited with The Rocky Horror Picture Show on the inflatable screen outside?
You can relive the highlights with our 2017 PCFF recap and photos. It’s on the Archives page under the About section on the menu.
Or, just click on this link: plazaclassic.com/archives
While you relive some of last year’s memorable moments, rest assured we are hard at work on the 2018 Plaza Classic Film Festival, which will be August 2-12 in and around the Plaza Theatre. Look for more information in the coming weeks and months.
Festival Passes are on sale now at plazaclassic.com/tickets.
Holiday traditions abound. We have a couple of our own.
Here’s one.
Festival Passes for the 2018 edition of the El Paso Community Foundation’s Plaza Classic Film Festival are now on sale for the discounted price of $175. The 11th annual Plaza Classic will be Aug. 2-12, 2018.
Remember how much fun the 2017 PCFF was, with Richard Dreyfuss, Kathleen Turner, Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Jaws, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Singin’ in the Rain, The Exorcist, Romancing the Stone and E.T.
A Festival Pass is your ticket to all things Plaza Classic Film Festival. It includes admission to all ticketed events, plus invitations to receptions and other special events. Pass holders have their own express entry lane. And the pass is transferable, meaning you can loan it to a friend or family member.
Act fast. The sale ends at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, December 31. Go to plazaclassic.com/tickets or call 915-533-4020 to purchase yours now.
And our other holiday tradition is the Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre series, now in its seventh year. This year’s series continues Sunday, December 3 with Elf at 1 p.m. and The Polar Express at 3:30 p.m.
Doors open at 12:30 p.m. for Elf and 3 p.m. for The Polar Express. Laurie Koval will play the Plaza’s Wyler Mighty Wurlitzer Organ before each movie.
The Holiday Movies continue with It’s a Wonderful Life at 6 p.m. Sunday, December 10, and conclude with Frozen at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, December 31.
All movies are FREE, thanks to our partnership with El Paso Live and sponsor Texas Gas Service.
The El Paso Community Foundation’s Plaza Classic Film Festival and El Paso Live are teaming up to show free Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre as part of the second annual WinterFest.
Texas Gas Service is sponsoring free showings of “A Christmas Story” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” on Sunday, November 26; “Elf” and “The Polar Express” on Sunday, December 3; “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Sunday, December 10; and “Froze”n on Sunday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve).
In true Plaza Classic style, organists Ken Fedorick, Richard Garven and Laurie Koval will perform on the Plaza’s original, restored Wyler Mighty Wurlitzer Organ before each movie.
WinterFest, which includes ice skating in Arts Festival Plaza, runs November 18 through January 1. The 11th annual Plaza Classic Film Festival will be August 2-12, 2018. Go to winterfestep.com and plazaclassic.com for more information.
Here is the schedule:
Sunday, November 26
1 p.m. — “A Christmas Story” (1983)
3:30 p.m. — “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989)
Sunday, December 3
1 p.m. — “Elf” (2003)
3:30 p.m. — “The Polar Express” (2004)
Sunday, December 10
6 p.m. — “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946)
Sunday, December 31
2:30 p.m. — “Frozen” (2013)
Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss is scheduled to appear at the 10th anniversary edition of the El Paso Community Foundation’s Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Dreyfuss, whose iconic career spans movies, TV and the stage, is scheduled to appear for an on-stage interview before a screening of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster Jaws at 7 p.m. Saturday, August 12 in El Paso’s historic Plaza Theatre.
He also is set for an on-stage interview before a screening of the inspirational 1995 movie Mr. Holland’s Opus at 1 p.m. Sunday, August 13 in the Plaza Theatre. Dreyfuss was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of music teacher Glenn Holland.
Dreyfuss also is scheduled to appear for an autograph signing from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, August 12 in the Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon Street, across from San Jacinto Plaza.
Richard Dreyfuss is considered one of the most talented and resourceful American actors of the last 50 years. Currently involved in three forthcoming movies, he has worked with some of the most influential directors of the day. He has appeared in more than 50 movies. They include The Goodbye Girl (for which he became the youngest actor to win Best Actor Oscar at age 30), Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, American Graffiti, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Stakeout, Stand by Me and Postcards From the Edge.
His lengthy list of television credits range from appearances as a then-unknown actor on Bewitched, Gunsmoke and Gidget in the 1960s to roles in the recent Fox series Shots Fired and the title role of ABC’s 2016 mini-series Madoff.
In 2006, he created The Dreyfuss Civics Initiative to bring civics curriculum back to public education.
Richard Dreyfuss joins actress Kathleen Turner (who will appear with Peggy Sue Got Married and Romancing the Stone) and animation legends Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (who will appear with The Secret of NIMH) as special guests of this year’s 10th anniversary Plaza Classic Film Festival.
The full festival schedule is available at plazaclassic.com/schedule.
Tickets for the more than 90 Plaza Classic Film Festival movies — including Casablanca, Singin’ in the Rain and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, go on sale Friday, July 7 at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets and 800-745-3000.
Festival passes and teen Film Club passes are available at plazaclassic.com/tickets and 915-533-4020.
