The Plaza Classic Podcast

Local filmmakers and hundreds of their friends, family, loved ones, fans, plus cast and crew members, filled the Plaza Theatre for the Local Flavor Showcase on July 26.

Of the 60 entries, a panel of judges chose eight films for the screening event, and of those 8, four were awarded.

First-place winner, director Brandon Herrera (Se lo Merecía) and Audience Favorite winner Ulises Córdova (Tito Ritmo) join Lisa Elliott and Stephanie V...

Valeria Contreras is having a moment. The El Paso filmmaker's short film Oranges is set to make the festival circuit this fall. It comes on the heels of the work-in-progress concept by the same name making its debut during the 2026 Plaza Classic Film Festival.

The Director Incubator Fellow joined podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to discuss her film and how you can see it. Plus, this blossoming director talks about wha...

June 1, 2026 marked the 100th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's birth.

Jack Fields, the Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee's Los Angeles Field Officer, joined podcast hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott during the festival in July to talk about how LA was honoring the Blonde Bombshell, and how her legacy has persisted through the century. Plus, he offers his take on which of Marilyn's films shows the full breadth of he...

Chalk the Block is back!

This all-ages festival easily draws over 40,000 people to Downtown El Paso to gaze at the artwork – or try their hand at their own – interact with the art installations, or listen to live music, and more. 

Rebecca Muñoz, the director of the Mexican American Cultural Center, talks with podcast hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott about one particularly big art installation, plus the screen...

On the opening of Season 8, Plaza Classic Podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle take you back to the summer, when the Plaza Classic Film Festival was in full swing, and movie legend Ann-Margret was in El Paso.

Ann-Margret engaged in an interview with TCM host Scott McGee ahead of both Bye Bye Birdie (1963) and Tommy (1975) which were shown on Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18, respectively, in the Plaza Theatre.

B...

Curtains on the 2026 Plaza Classic Film Festival! Among the approximately 100 films we screened, guests were also treated to a Q&A with the director of Selena live on-stage.

Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee member and co-host of this podcast, Stephanie Valle, interviewed Gregory Nava ahead of that film’s screening on July 24.

Nava offered unique insight into the production of the biopic that honored th...

How to you get your idea for a film out of your head and into a script - and better yet, onto the big screen?

Allen Gilmer is the man who knows how to get that done. Gilmer, an El Paso native, is a film producer who, with his wife and partner Riki Rushing, runs Tiki Tane Productions. Gilmer is behind Death in Texas (2020) and Long Shadows (2025), the latter of which was screened at the Plaza Classic Film Festival.

The Plaza Classic...

If you're listening to this podcast episode the day it dropped, you're in luck. The world’s largest classic film festival has sprouted like a magic beanstalk in Downtown El Paso. 

This isn't some fairy tale: The Plaza Classic Film Festival is starting off its second week showing classics for all ages, whether you're a child - or a child of the '70s and '80s.

There is no one better to talk about the featured children&rsqu...

Student filmmakers have an incredible opportunity to see their creations on the big screen during the Plaza Classic Film Festival this year.

The inaugural UTEP/EPCC Student Showcase will be held on July 18, the first weekend of the film festival, in the Philanthropy Theater.

Ramon Villa of UTEP and Marvin Hanley of EPCC join Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to talk about the showcase, and how a new Film and Multimedia Production Ce...

Easily one of the most memorable lines from Talladega Nights, it's also a great way to prepare attendees of the Plaza Classic Film Festival for its Outdoor Movie Series.

This year, the 2006 comedy directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as NASCAR teammates will make its festival debut.

Local racing expert and KTSM News Channel 9's News Director Chris Babcock joins Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott in stud...

In this special Independence Day episode, what better time than to review the movies showcasing the American experience that will be screened during the Plaza Classic Podcast?

Being as our nation is celebrating its 250th anniversary, AKA the Semiquincentennial, "Americana" is one thread of this year's festival.

Festival Artistic Director Doug Pullen gives Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle a sneak peek at the schedule.

The Plaza Clas...

Jay Duncan and Camilla Carr both loved film, and both proudly served on the Plaza Classic Film Festival's Advisory Committee. Our committee members were saddened by the passing of both Duncan and Carr earlier this year.

The lives and legacies of Duncan, the committee's resident sci-fi expert, and Carr, a screenwriter and actress, were discussed at length by Friend of the Pod and festival advisory committee member Jaime Mendez and l...

One of the stars of Bye Bye Birdie is flying into El Paso to attend the Plaza Classic Film Festival!

Ann-Margret will appear the first weekend of the festival, ahead of both the 1963 musical comedy, and the 1975 rock musical Tommy, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Joining Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to talk all about Ann-Margret is Jack Fields, a Warner Bros. studio facilities staff member and...

The Local Flavor Showcase features contemporary films with connections to our border. This is the 9th year the showcase has been featured during the Plaza Classic Film Festival. The 2026 program is on the last day of the festival, July 26, in the Plaza Theatre.

For the third year, Local Flavor will be curated by Emmy Award-winning producer Javier Gonzalez of El Paso (Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, In the Summers). Gonzalez talks to...

Tsunamis. Collisions with icebergs. Rampaging dinosaurs. Let's be real: watching the world destroyed by the force of Mother Nature is only entertaining on the silver screen, especially when spectacular special effects are on full display.

This year, disaster movies are taking the Plaza Classic Film Festival by storm.

KISS-FM morning radio show host (and newest member of the Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee) Fernando M...

"A Dinner To Love" is the theme of this year's Dinner and a Movie, a special event during the Plaza Classic Film Festival.

The theme is loosely based on a quote from the 2003 romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give." It stars Diane Keaton as divorced playwright Erica Barry and Jack Nicholson as eternally single businessman Harry Sanborn. (Here's that quote, courtesy of a romance-avoidant Harry to Erica: "You are a woman to love.")

...

Podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle really can't help it when it comes to puns and wordplay!

The title of this episode of the Plaza Classic Podcast refers to the title of a music documentary starring Jayne Mansfield. The 1956 comedy "The Girl Can't Help It" is one of several "rock docs" on the schedule of the 19th Annual Plaza Classic Film Festival, which will take place from July 16-26, 2026.

Film Festival Artistic Dire...

The Plaza Classic Film Festival is celebrating its 19th year of wowing audiences in downtown El Paso. Someone who has been a part of the festival shortly after its inception is Bart Weiss, an award-winning independent film and video producer, director, editor, and educator.

Bart joined Lisa Elliiott and Stephanie Valle from his home in Dallas to talk about his favorite moments as a PCFF contributor, plus his own experience starting...

If you know Eric Pearson, you are all too familiar with his penchant for jokes of all kinds. The passage of April Fool's Day has done little to quench his desire to share his favorite jokes and pranks. 

The President and CEO of the El Paso Community Foundation was the perfect choice to talk about funny movies he likes and would like to be screened during the Plaza Classic Festival. Pearson joined Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Val...