Legendary writer and director Luis Valdez will appear at this year’s 18th annual El Paso Community Foundation Plaza Classic Film Festival, which runs July 17-27 in and around downtown El Paso’s historic Plaza Theatre.
Valdez will appear for on-stage interviews before two of his classic movies — 1987’s La Bamba, about Mexican American rocker Ritchie Valens, at 7 pm Friday, July 18, and Zoot Suit (1981), considered the first major Chicano feature film, at 3 pm Saturday, July 19. Both events will be in the Plaza Theatre.
Tickets for each program will be $10, on sale with the rest of the Plaza Classic Film Festival schedule on Tuesday, June 10 at the Plaza Theatre box office (no service fees) and Ticketmaster.com (with service fees).
Valdez is one of the most important and influential American playwrights and filmmakers living today. He has enjoyed success in the worlds of theater, television and film. He founded the Obie Award-winning theater company El Teatro Campesino in 1965 in California’s Central Valley, joining Cesar Chavez in his United Farm Workers rights movement. It is the longest running Chicano theater in the United States. The prolific 84-year-old debuted his latest play Adiós Mamá Carlota on May 10 at El Teatro Campesino Playhouse.
Zoot Suit, which explored Los Angeles’ racially motivated Sleepy Lagoon murder trial of 1942 and “Zoot Suit Riots” of 1943, debuted in Los Angeles in 1978 and became the first Chicano play on Broadway a year later. La Bamba was written for the screen and starred Lou Diamond Phillips. Both films are preserved in the National Film Registry.
Valdez’s honors include the Presidential Medal of Arts, Mexico’s Aguila Azteca Award, and the Peabody Award for his 1987 PBS documentary, Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution.
This year’s Plaza Classic Film Festival will feature 100 movies over 11 days, including Cabaret, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Godfather Part II, Notting Hill, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story, Schindler’s List, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and many more.
Call 915-533-4020 or email info@plazaclassic.com for more information. Festival passes are on sale now at plazaclassic.com/tickets. Tickets go on sale June 10 at the box office and Ticketmaster.
