The Plaza Classic Podcast

Crazy for Swayze

Patrick Swayze became a heartthrob in the 1980s, and broke hearts when he died at age 57 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.
The star of Dirty Dancing and Ghost has been gone for 15 years, but Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott are doing everything they can to preserve his legacy by advocating for the screening of as much of his filmography as possible during the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Festival advisory committee member Erin Ritter joins the Swayze Fan Club's El Paso Chapter to talk about the movie star and their favorite films.
November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and Nov. 21 is World Pancreatic Cancer Day.
Learn about diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
The podcast is brought to you by the El Paso Community Foundation with support from El Paso Community College.
Read about the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Check out the show notes on this episode.

Holiday Movies at WinterFest!

It will begin to look a lot like Christmas in El Paso come Nov. 23, when WinterFest blasts through downtown.
Even though it pains Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to skip over Thanksgiving, in this episode, they're talking turkey about Free Holiday Movies at WinterFest.
A dozen films are showing from Nov. 24 to Jan. 5, 2025 at both the Plaza Theatre and the El Paso Museum of Art.
El Paso Community Foundation Program Director Doug Pullen joins Stephanie and Lisa to lay out the schedule.
Free Holiday Movies at WinterFest and this podcast are sponsored by the El Paso Community Foundation. 
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Film Noir

It was a dark and stormy night, and Lisa and Stephanie were working late at the office on the latest episode of the Plaza Classic Podcast, when suddenly the door creaked open. There stood--
Okay, clearly writing classic noir is not our forte. 
But we do enjoy talking about our favorite film noir with Leanne von Mittenwald, a retired educator who teaches film classes for UTEP’s OLLI program. She is also a part of the Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee with podcast hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott.
Holiday Movies at the Plaza launch the weekend of Nov. 24.
The podcast is brought to you by the El Paso Community Foundation with support from El Paso Community College.
Read about the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Check out the show notes on this episode.

Spending Spooky Season with the Final Girl

What's your favorite scary movie?
That's not just an appropriately dropped quote from the slasher hit Scream, it's also the focus of this special Halloween episode of the Plaza Classic Podcast. 
Hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle talk about their favorite horror films as well as the popularity of the genre across the country.
Plus, they're joined by Liz Kern, the Sun City's "final girl"!
Kern, a former El Paso newscaster, is a radio host in Fresno and our favorite 1980s horror film actress with ties to the Sun City.
Kern starred in The Wraith (1986), Night of the Creeps (1986) and she topped the credits as Jennifer Ross in Intruder (1989).
The podcast is brought to you by the El Paso Community Foundation with support from El Paso Community College.
Listen to Liz on the airwaves: kmjnow.com
Follow Liz on social! IG: @lizikernnews X: @LiziKernNews
Read about the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Check out the show notes on this episode.

Domestic Violence in Films

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the Plaza Classic Podcast wants to shine a light on how this vast societal problem is depicted in the movies.
Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee member and licensed therapist Kristin Trick joins hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to talk about on-screen intimate partner violence.
If you or someone you know needs help, call El Paso's Center Against Sexual and Family Violence at (915) 593-7300.
If you suspect a child is living in a dangerous situation or is the victim of abuse, call Child Protective Services at 1-800-252-5400.
The El Paso County Attorney’s Office handles protective orders. For more information, call (915) 273-3238.
The podcast is brought to you by the El Paso Community Foundation with support from El Paso Community College.
Read about the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Check out the show notes on this episode.

At the Drive-In, Part 2

From the eastside to the lower valley, and up to the westside, El Paso was dotted with drive-in theater screens.
Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee member and UTEP Assistant Dean of Students Jaime Mendez joins Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to talk about a time when it was totally acceptable for families to hide friends and family in the trunk of their car for a trip to the outdoor movies.
Hey, the 1980s were a different time.
The podcast is brought to you by the El Paso Community Foundation with support from El Paso Community College.
Read about the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Check out the show notes on this episode.

At the Drive-In, Part 1

During the COVID pandemic in the summer of 2020, organizers scrambled to find a way to salvage the Plaza Classic Film Festival schedule without sacrificing safety. They resorted to screening movies the old-fashioned way: at the drive-in.
Plaza Classic Film Festival Advisory Committee member and film historian Jay Duncan revisits El Paso's rich history of drive-ins with hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott.
We're going way back, so grab your snacks. (Remember when you had to hang the drive-in speaker on the window of your car? Ah, nostalgia.)
The podcast is brought to you by the El Paso Community Foundation with support from El Paso Community College.
Read about the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Check out the show notes on this episode.

That Time Movies Returned to the Plaza

The El Paso Community Foundation helped revitalize the Plaza Theatre in 2006, with help from the City of El Paso.
Soon after, the films were back in the theatre, too, with the launch of the first incarnation of the Plaza Classic Film Festival: Movies Return to the Plaza.
Eric Pearson, the president of the EPCF, joins hosts Stephanie Valle and Lisa Elliott to talk about the massive undertaking to restore the nearly century-old performing arts venue (as well as his love of 80s music).
The podcast is brought to you by the El Paso Community Foundation with support from El Paso Community College.
Read about the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
Check out the show notes on this episode.

Oculto Film Fest ¡en Español!

La segunda temporada del Plaza Classic Podcast comienza con una conversación sobre un festival de cine diferente.
El Oculto Film Fest fue creado por cineastas de El Paso y Ciudad Juárez para promover el cine de terror y fantasía en la frontera.
El festival ofrece una experiencia completa a sus audiencias y brinda oportunidades de conexión y visibilidad para los cineastas participantes.
El director del festival, Carlos “Cabe” Tejeda y el subdirector Ángel Benítez hablan con nuestro amigo Jaime Méndez sobre la edición 2024 del Oculto Film Festival, que regresa este otoño a El Paso del 4 al 6 de octubre y en Juárez del 11 al 13 de octubre.
Más información del Plaza Classic Film Festival aquí: https://plazaclassic.com/about
Más informacion de este episodio: https://epcc.libguides.com/plazaclassicpodcast

The Oculto Film Festival Lives!

Season 2 of the Plaza Classic Podcast launches with a conversation about a different film festival. 
The Oculto Film Fest was created by filmmakers from El Paso and Ciudad Juarez to promote horror and fantasy cinema in the Borderland.
The festival offers a complete experience to its audiences and provides connection and visibility opportunities for participating filmmakers.
Festival director Carlos “Cabe” Tejeda and deputy director Angel Benitez join podcast hosts Lisa Elliott and Stephanie Valle to talk about the 2024 edition of the Oculto Film Festival, which returns this fall to El Paso and Juarez on Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 11-13.
Get background on the Plaza Classic Film Festival here: https://plazaclassic.com/about
Check out the show notes on this episode: https://epcc.libguides.com/plazaclassicpodcast