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.

Location matters when it comes to setting up a business, buying a house, and filming a movie.

Jacob Cena knows El Paso like the back of his hand. It's one of his most prized assets as the Borderland's trusted location scout.

Cena will delve deeper into his craft during the Filmmaker's Brunch, which takes place on the last day of the Plaza Classic Film Festival.

He also shares some insight into what it takes to get a film shot in the Sun City with Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival runs from July 17-27, 2025. Find the full schedule here.

Get festival passes and more here.

Want more? Check out the show notes.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Not all the movies shown during the Plaza Classic Film Festival are classics in the traditional sense of the word. Some are making their debut on the big screen during the festival.

Local filmmaker Diego Munoz Holguin has the honor of screening several of his short films at the Plaza.

Munoz talks to podcast hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott about his works and the method to his filmmaking.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival runs from July 17-27, 2025. Find the full schedule here.

Get festival passes and more here.

Want more? Check out the show notes.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Luis Valdez and Veronica Cartwright may not be household names, but they have both played large roles in some memorable films you surely have seen.

Valdez directed "Zoot Suit" with Edward James Olmos and "La Bamba" with Lou Diamond Phillips; Cartwright portrayed both Cathy, the teen girl in "The Birds," and Lambert in "Alien." And both stars will be gracing the stage during the Plaza Classic Film Festival.

Festival Program Director and "Friend of the Pod" Doug Pullen is back in the podcast studio with Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott to run down the schedule of the 18th film festival.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival runs from July 17-27, 2025. Find  the full schedule here.

Get festival passes and more here.

Want more? Check out the show notes.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

If you're a fan of "Notting Hill" starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, then you're in luck.

The 1999 rom-com is the star of the newest date night event held during the Plaza Classic Film Festival. The "I'm Just a Girl" Dinner is on Monday, July 21 with a screening of "Notting Hill" to follow.

In this episode, podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle are just two girls, sitting in front of two fellow committee members Craig Holden and Rebecca Mendez, asking them to talk about "Notting Hill."

Get "I'm Just A Girl" Dinner tickets here.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival runs from July 17-27, 2025. Find the full schedule here.

Get festival passes and more here.

Want even more? Check out the show notes.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

Do you know the story behind the most famous pitch in film history?

It was for 1979's Alien. Legend has it, the screenwriters told the studio heads three words: "Jaws in space."

The power of the pitch is clear, and there will be a workshop during the Plaza Classic Film Festival to help writers finesse that much-needed skill.

El Paso Film Commissioner Drew Mayer-Oakes joins Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle in the podcast studio to talk about the Screenwriting Pitch Fest.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival runs from July 17-27, 2025. Find the pitch fest on the full schedule here.

Get festival passes and more here.

Want more? Check out the show notes.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. As part of a massive collaborative effort, the Plaza Classic Film Festival is teaming up with FIVE of El Paso's museums to showcase "Hollywood Goes to War," the festival's major theme commemorating the anniversary.

Podcast hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott are joined in studio by representatives of the Mexican American Cultural Center, the El Paso Museum of Art, and the El Paso Holocaust Museum, so they can share the special World War II-themed exhibits and programs taking place during the festival.

Check the show notes for the special exhibits and features at La Nube STEAM Discovery Center and the El Paso Museum of History.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival runs from July 17-27, 2025. Check out the schedule here.

Get festival passes and more here.

El Pasoan Ron Stallworth had an eventful career in law enforcement. He helped sabotage KKK activities in Colorado Springs as an undercover member of the Klan, and he also uncovered Bloods and Crips activity in Salt Lake City's Mormon Country.

His true life stories are more fascinating than fiction, prompting screenwriters to bring his published memoirs "BlacKkKlansman" and "The Gangs of Zion" to the big and small screen, alike.

Stallworth joins Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott to talk about his life, his work, and his efforts to support budding writers with the help of the El Paso Community Foundation.

The Plaza Classic Podcast is a production of the El Paso Community Foundation and is recorded on the El Paso Community College campus.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival runs from July 17-27, 2025. Check out the schedule here.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Get festival passes and more here.

The sequel to the Star Wars, the 1977 sci-fi film that defined the genre and shaped a generation, is blasting its way onto the Plaza Classic Film Festival schedule this summer.

Jaime Mendez, a member of the film festival's advisory committee and an avid Star Wars fan, joins Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to convince them -- and all of you -- that "Empire" isn't just the best film in the series, but one of the best movies ever made.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival runs from July 17-27, 2025. Find "The Empire Strikes Back" and other screenings on the festival 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.

Check out this week's show notes here.

Get Plaza Classic Film Festival passes and more here.

Do you remember when the Mighty Wurlitzer organ was encased in glass near the food court in Sunland Park Mall?

That was just one unlikely stop before the classic instrument returned to its home in the Plaza Theatre.

Gary L. Williams, the Vice President of Programs for the El Paso Community Foundation, and Richard Garven, Organist-Choirmaster Emeritus, join podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to talk about the journey to revive the Heart of the Plaza.

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 runs from July 17-27, 2025. Check out the schedule here.

Get festival passes and more here.