The Plaza Classic Film Festival in El Paso occurs this time of year annually, and while it features a lot of older, thus classical, films…it also has a few local filmmaker events, this year including Mark Medoff introducing “Children of a Lesser God”.
While Jones and Wagner may be the main attractions at this year’s classic film festival, feature filmmakers with local ties help give another perspective, said Doug Pullen, spokesman and coordinator of the Plaza Classic Film Festival, which is produced by the El Paso Community Foundation.
“The idea is just to have a different point of view,” Pullen said. “We want to have some examples of local talent that made it in the industry, because they can show the audience that they were in their place at one time and have worked their way into the industry in different ways.”
Playwright Mark Medoff will introduce “Children of a Lesser God” at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 14 in the Plaza Theatre, and also will introduce “The Shootist” at 6:30 p.m. that day. Medoff, a Tony Award-winning playwright and Oscar nominee for “Children of a Lesser God,” lives in Las Cruces and teaches at New Mexico State University.
Rajeev Nirmalakhandan, who wrote and directed “The Odd Way Home,” will introduce the film at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 15 in the Philanthropy Theatre. The 2013 film, shot in New Mexico, stars Rumer Willis and Chris Marquette as unusual traveling companions. Nirmalakhandan, born in Sri Lanka, teaches at New Mexico State University’s Creative Media Institute.
El Pasoan Zach Passero, a director, editor and animator, will make his fourth appearance at the festival. He will speak along with director Lucky McKee to introduce the 2014 film “All Cheerleaders Die” at 9:30 p.m. Friday in the Philanthropy Theatre. Passero edited the film. He also directed “Wicked Lake” (2008), which was shot in El Paso.
Passero said he and McKee will talk about their work on “All Cheerleaders Die” and the creative process. The two also worked on a low-budget version of the film in 1999.
Actress Yvette Yates, a former Loretto and Coronado High student, will introduce “In the Blood” with producer Shaun Redick at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Philanthropy Theatre.
Documentarian Phillip Rodriguez will introduce “Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle” at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 11 in the Philanthropy Theatre. (Courtesy photo)
The film tells of the pioneering career and mysterious death of El Pasoan Salazar, a Los Angeles Times journalist killed while covering the radical Chicano movement in 1970.
Hanks High School graduate Ryan Piers Williams will make his third appearance at the film festival. Williams will introduce “Kilimanjaro,” which he produced, at 7 p.m. Aug. 16, and “X/Y,” which he wrote and directed, at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 16, both in the Philanthropy Theatre. Williams has worked for George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh on “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Ocean’s Thirteen.” He also wrote and directed “The Dry Land.”