The Plaza Classic Podcast

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 up a film festival in The Big D! The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. The Plaza Classic Film Festival takes place from July 16-26, 2026 in Downtown El Paso. Learn more about the festival here.

Each awards season, the festival's advisory committee members camp out in theaters and plow through the Academy Award nominees in order to thoughtfully craft the perfect ballot for the committee's Oscar ballot contest. And this year, just like in the Academy Awards itself, there was a tie! Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott (who have each never won the contest) once again try to find the best strategy for picking winners, straight from the contest's THREE winners themselves. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. The Plaza Classic Film Festival takes place from July 16-26, 2026 in Downtown El Paso. Learn more about the festival here.

The Academy Awards will take place on March 15, and we will all finally know which movies and performances Hollywood favored in 2025. Will One Battle After Another win the battle for Best Picture, or will Sinners transform audiences much like the vampires did at the juke joint? Can Jessie Buckley maintain her Best Actress winning streak? Will Timothee Chamalet take home the Oscar, or will Michael B. Jordan be recognized for his "twinning" performance? Film critic and Critics Choice Association member Felipa Solis runs down her list of picks with Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle. Get your ballots ready! The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. The Plaza Classic Film Festival takes place from July 16-26, 2026 in Downtown El Paso. Learn more about the festival here.

March is Women's History Month. What better time to recognize and discuss the depiction of women in the workplace than now? Naturally, Leila Melendez, the CEO of Workforce Solutions Borderplex, is focused on screening women in the workplace during the Plaza Classic Film Festival this summer. Leila - the newest member of the festival's Advisory Committee - joins Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott in the podcast studio to discuss which movies she'd like shown. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. The Plaza Classic Film Festival takes place from July 16-26, 2026 in Downtown El Paso. Learn more about the festival here.

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." - When Harry Met Sally Director Rob Reiner's "When Harry Met Sally" was heralded as a romantic comedy classic in part for its natural, witty banter and heartfelt performances. Reiner had often said falling in love with his wife Michelle prompted him to change the film's ending so Harry and Sally would end up together. Reiner, whose life ended tragically in 2025 at age 78, believed in capturing the nuances of real relationships by focusing on conversation, laughter, and genuine connection. That was also evident in The Princess Bride and The American President. Reiner's rom-com works are the topic of this Valentine's Day episode of the Plaza Classic Podcast. Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee member Rebecca Mendez joins fellow members and podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle for this tribute. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. The Plaza Classic Film Festival takes place from July 16-26, 2026 in Downtown El Paso. Learn more about the festival here.

With its stark lighting, brooding characters, and dark themes, the film noir style dominated Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s and inspired generations of filmmakers, from David Lynch to Quentin Tarantino. If you ask Alan Rode to define film noir, he'll say, "you know it when you see it." Rode -- an expert of the style, Charter Director of the Film Noir Foundation, plus documentarian, producer, and author -- joined Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle for a conversation about Film Noir virtually from his home in Los Angeles. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. The Plaza Classic Film Festival takes place from July 16-26, 2026 in Downtown El Paso. Learn more about the festival here.

Is there a movie you enjoy watching in spite of mostly negative reviews? For Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee member Jaime Mendez, that movie is Xanadu, the 1980 rock musical starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. As a matter of fact, Jaime enjoys this film so much, he can't help but sing the theme song. On this season finale of the Plaza Classic Podcast, Jaime joins podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to talk about movies only a true fan could love. (Some call them "guilty pleasures," which is a deep point of contention for Lisa.) The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

While the weather outside is frightful(ly pleasant), the Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre are delightful! The movies are back as a part of WinterFest. We're showing six movies over three weekends starting on Nov. 30. Doug Pullen (the El Paso Community Foundation's Artistic Director and Program Director for the Plaza Classic Film Festival, and a.k.a. "Friend of the Pod") is back with podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to go over which films made the cut. Check out the Holiday Movies at the Plaza schedule here. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

During the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival, a new take on the Western genre made its debut, complete with red carpet fanfare for the director, producer, and crew -- many of them with ties to the Borderland. Long Shadows is set in the Wild West, and follows one man's mission to avenge his parents' death, with lots of twists along the way. In his directorial debut, it was also written by actor William Shockley (RoboCop, Death in Texas), and produced by El Paso native Allen Gilmer. Shockley and Gilmer join Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott to talk about how the film -- and the film festival screening -- came to be. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

Great films often begin as strong pitches. But oftentimes, those pitches are critiqued, revised, and refined before they truly shine. That was the process behind the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival's Pitch Fest. And out of the ten budding local screenwriters, one El Paso Community College English professor came out on top. Jorge Gomez joined Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott to talk about his pitch and his method. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

You don't have to wear stretchy pants to enjoy movies, nor must you believe in science to be a fan of a family-friendly outdoor arts festival. But if you like quoting the Jack Black comedy Nacho Libre (2006), then get that corn out of your face! Be ready to stake your spot outside the Mexican American Cultural Center for a special showing of 'Nacho' during Chalk the Block. The MACC's Rebecca Muñoz is back in the podcast studio with Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott to talk about their favorite things (the color light tan and puppies) and how the screening came to be. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

One Battle After Another, the latest film by acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson, took over El Paso when the film crew shot parts of the movie here in 2024. The excitement was palpable as Downtown El Paso's historic buildings and unique facades became the backdrop for several scenes and Academy Award winning actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, and Sean Penn were spotted meandering around the city. On Sept. 13, 2025, the fervor spilled over. Warner Bros. Studios worked with the El Paso Community Foundation and others to screen One Battle at the Plaza Theatre. Dozens of movie extras, local crew, and supporters of the El Paso film community were invited to the special showing two weeks before the world premiere. Podcast hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott are joined in studio by El Paso location scout Jacob Cena and architect Bill Helm, who were both instrumental in winning "one battle after another" to shoot the film in the Sun City. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.

Luis Valdez influenced a generation of Latinos and Latinas when he showcased their stories on the big screen in the 1980s. The director was the special guest during the first weekend of the 2025 Plaza Classic Film Festival, appearing before the screenings of La Bamba on Friday, July 18 and Zoot Suit on Saturday, July 19. The following interview with Film Festival Advisory Committee member and podcast co-host Stephanie Valle was held before a live audience onstage at the Plaza Theatre on Friday evening. The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus. Check out this week's show notes here. Learn more about the Plaza Classic Film Festival here.