The eighth Plaza Classic Film Festival ran August 5-16, 2015, drew more than 40,000 fans, and featured guest appearances by Laverne & Shirley star Cindy Williams, with American Graffiti, and Louise Fletcher, with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Thieves Like Us. The Plaza Theatre was packed for showings of Gone With the Wind, which made its El Paso debut there in 1940; Back to the Future, with a De Lorean parked near the entrance; and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, with the Society for Creative Anachronism sword-fighting outside. We honored humanitarian Dr. Charlie Clements, subject of the documentary Witness to War, and showed more documentaries, including Kingdom of Shadows, with filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz. PCFF also celebrated the Plaza Theatre’s 85th birthday with Follow Thru, which opened the theater in 1930.
Our first collaborative exhibit with the El Paso Museum of History, Frankly My Dear: The Art and Impact of Gone With the Wind, featured items from the David O. Selznick Collection of the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, and drew more than 12,000. Our fifth collaboration with the El Paso Museum of Art, Warhol’s World: Film Screenings and an Installation, included 16mm films and Polaroids by the Pop Art king. The outdoor movies, including our seventh annual show of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, moved to Oregon Street. Local Flavor programs packed the Foundation Room for a second year. Homegrown actress Yvette Yates returned for an advance screening of the vampire/office comedy Bloodsucking Bastards.
Guests • Actress Louise Fletcher • Actress Cindy Williams • Theater organist Walt Strony • Actress Yvette Yates • Actor Anthony Escobar • Producer Shaun Redick • Humanitarian/author Dr. Charlie Clements (Witness to War) • PTSD activist Jayson Floyd (That Which I Love Destroys Me) • Filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz (Kingdom of Shadows) • Homeland Security Investigations special agent Oscar Hagelsieb (Kingdom of Shadows) • Filmmaker Gerald Peary (Archie’s Betty) • Dallas VideoFest Director and UT Arlington professor Bart Weiss • Film Curator Steve Wilson, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin • Fashion educator/researcher Ann DuPont, Texas State University, San Marcos • Pastor Jose Antonio Galvan, Vision en Accion, Juarez, MX/Sunland Park, NM (Dead When I Got Here) • Author/educator/librarian Molly Molloy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces (Dead When I Got Here) • Turner Classic Movies writer/producer/podcaster Scott McGee • Journalist/multi-media specialist Laura Emerick • Producer Regina Saldivar (Local Flavor: Do You Dream in Color?)
Events • Exhibit: Frankly My Dear: The Art and Impact of Gone With the Wind, with items from the Harry Ransom Center’s David O. Selznick Collection, July 24-September 6, El Paso Museum of History • Screening: The Natural, August 5, Southwest University Park • Exhibit/screenings: Warhol’s World: Film Screenings and an Art Installation, featuring eight 16mm films from the Museum of Modern Art, Polaroids and prints from the permanent collection and the UTEP Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, August 6-16, El Paso Museum of Art • Festival Passholder Reception, with Louise Fletcher, August 7, Foundation Room • Louise Fletcher autograph signing, August 8, Foundation Room • Cindy Williams book signing, August 15, Foundation Room • SOMOS Fund Benefit, with filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz and Homeland Security Investigations special agent Oscar Hagelsieb, August 15, Foundation Room • Filmmakers Brunch on Albert Maysles, with filmmaker/educator Bart Weiss, August 16, Foundation Room
Music • Mariachi Fatigo • Los Traques • Dan Lambert’s Double Drum Trio • Chuco Soul Project
Movies • Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion • Adam’s Rib • An American Tail • American Graffiti (with Cindy Williams) • Annie (1982) • Archie’s Betty (with Gerald Peary) • The Atomic City • Back to the Future • The Best Years of Our Lives • The Bicycle Thief • The Black Stallion • Bless Me, Ultima (with Anthony Escobar) • Bloodsucking Bastards (with Yvette Yates) • Brooklyn Unemployed (Local Flavor) • The Caine Mutiny • Charlotte’s Web (1973) • Combat America • Dark Victory • Dead Poets Society • Dead When I Got Here (with Molly Molloy) • The Deer Hunter • Do You Dream In Color? (with Regina Saldivar, Local Flavor) • El Bombero Atomico • El Norte • Follow Thru (with Laurel and Hardy’s Brats) • Enter the Dragon • Footloose (Oregon Street) • Food for Change • Fort Bliss • Funny Face • Ghostlight 48HR Film Slam (Local Flavor) • Gone With the Wind • The Good, The Bad, The Indie, Vol. 11 (Local Flavor) • Grey Gardens • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets • Hedwig and the Angry Inch • Help! • Hondo (2D) • Hook • Horse Feathers • In the Heat of the Night • Jezebel • Jules and Jim • The King and I • Kingdom of Shadows (with Bernardo Ruiz and Oscar Hagelsieb) • Ladies & Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones (Oregon Street) • A Little Princess • Little Shop of Horrors • The Man Who Knew Too Much • The Mark of Zorro (silent, accompanied by Walt Strony) • The Messenger • Midnight Cowboy • The Miracle Worker • The Misfits • Monty Python and the Holy Grail • Muppets From Space • My Little Chickadee • Nacho Libre • The Natural (Southwest University Park) • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (with Louise Fletcher) • Pal Joey • Panic in the Streets • Plaza Days 1 (with Western Skies and Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons) • Plaza Days 2 (with Western Skies and Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons) • Red River • The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Oregon Street) • Rope • Rushmore • Selena • Shall We Dance • Shorts 1 (Local Flavor) • Shorts 2 (Local Flavor) • Sons of the Desert • Spaceballs (Mills Plaza Parking Garage) • Splendor in the Grass • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan • Stop Making Sense (Oregon Street) • The Stranger • A Streetcar Named Desire • The Sword of Doom • That Which I Love Destroys Me (with Jayson Floyd) • There’s Something About Mary (Mills Plaza Parking Garage) • Thieves Like Us (with Louise Fletcher) • TRUTH (Local Flavor) • The Warriors • Witness to War (with Dr. Charlie Clements) • Yankee Doodle Dandy • Y Tu Mama También
