Come early, stay late, repeat.

We’ve created a number of ticketing options so you can enjoy a little or a lot (we recommend the latter). You can buy individual tickets, double feature tickets or a Festival Pass. The Festival Pass provides you (at a steep discount) preferred access to all Festival screenings, talks, events, concert, etc. Just show up, flash your pass and you’re in. The Festival Pass is transferable, so if you don’t think you can make all the screenings, events and concert, share it with friends!

Everything. Each Pass-holder will receive a copy of a commemorative program on The Plaza Theatre, preferred access to all screenings (so you can pick your favorite seat) as well as a premium seat to The Movies Return: A Symphonic Concert. Your Pass is also your invitation to the Festival’s Opening Night VIP Event, August 14, 2008 at 7pm. This VIP Event is only open to Festival sponsors, special guests and Pass-holders.

You can order a Festival Pass (or Passes) by contacting The El Paso Community Foundation. See the Tickets page for more information.

Feel free to loan your pass to a friend, or anyone else that can use it. The Pass is fully transferable and is your ticket for admission (no matter whose neck it’s hanging around).

See our Getting Here page for local directions as well as guidance if you are coming from outside the area.

Most of the films are appropriate for the whole family. In most cases we have scheduled films that may not be appropriate for kids in later time slots and/or at times when there are other options provided.

All films have an MPAA rating listed on the schedule (so if you’re not sure, check). We don’t want to impose our own criteria on what you take your family to, but we will be enforcing the rating system and have noted specifically where age restrictions will be applied (mainly to R-rated movies shown in earlier time slots). We want to make the Festival as comfortable and enjoyable as possible for all our attendees and that may mean, in some cases, minors won’t be able to attend certain films that contain adult material.

Yes – but we’re not baby-sitters. Most of our Matinee titles are family-friendly, so feel free to bring your appropriately-aged kids down and drop them off. But we do mean “appropriately-aged”! (You’re the best judge of the maturity of your children, so we’ll leave that decision up to you). Better still, consider the Festival as a great opportunity to take a day off from work and enjoy the last days of summer along with your kids. The air-conditioning is free.

Please note: The Plaza Theatre is a historical landmark and our staff will make sure all attendees respect this remarkable venue.

If you haven’t been to The Plaza before (or at least not in a while), we’d recommend you leave ample time to park your car and enjoy a leisurely stroll to The Plaza. We recommend you arrive downtown about 30 minutes before show time. See the Getting Here page for a list of parking options.

We’ll be seating Festival Sponsors and Pass Holders beginning 25 minutes before the start of the show at the west entrance off of Arts Festival Plaza. General Admission attendees will be seated beginning 20 minutes before show time and should use the Main Entrance on El Paso street (under the Plaza’s Marquee).

Yes and No. Feel free to eat and drink all you want outside the Plaza Theatre, but once inside, there is no drinking or eating allowed in the Theatre (so please don’t test our ushers by sneaking food in). The Plaza Theatre is a regional treasure that has undergone a $38 million dollar restoration, expansion and certification as a Historic Landmark. Please respect the theatre and all its spaces so that we can all enjoy The Plaza for many years to come.

See the “Getting Here” page for locations of restaurants and bars in the immediate vicinity. We encourage Festival attendees to enjoy a meal between films at one of the many eateries in the area.

Anywhere you like (except in the Theatres). We encourage all Festival attendees to watch multiple movies and enjoy a snack, lunch or dinner at one of the many restaurants and bars in the area. There will be food and drink service in Arts Festival Plaza (adjacent to the Plaza) and the Camino Real Hotel has several restaurants (The Dome and Azuelos) as well as the beautiful Dome Bar. Please see the Getting Here page for more options.

Absolutely. During the course of the Festival, the Plaza’s organ will be played before a number of film screenings. The organ will also be used to accompany The El Paso Symphony Orchestra during The Movies Return: A Symphonic Concert on August 21st. We’ll be posting the dates and times of organ events on the Schedule page – so keep checking for updates.

Right next door. The Philanthropy Theatre is a new state-of-the-art digital theater that is part of the new Plaza Theatre Annex. The Philanthropy Theatre’s entrance is located between the Plaza Box Office and The Plaza Theatre’s main entrance (just under the marquee). The Philanthropy Theatre seats 191 people and has the latest in high-definition projection.

Yes (and no). We are very pleased to be showing exclusively 35mm film prints of all titles listed in The Plaza Theatre. We’ve worked hard to procure the best available film prints of each title and we’re pleased that the major Hollywood Studios have provided us with mostly archival film prints.

In the New Philanthropy Theatre, we will be presenting digital screenings of all titles listed for this venue.

We are still accepting contributions and underwriting support for the Festival. If you’d like to help sponsor a film or event, please contact us through the Contact page.

You tell us! The Festival is a celebration of the return of the movies to The Plaza Theatre. It’s also an open house to showcase the latest cinema capabilities at The Plaza, and as Bogart says at the end of Casablanca – “…this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” So expect more…The Movies are back!

Sure. But be forewarned: we’re showing some of the greatest films ever made, in the region’s finest cinema venue. Don’t be surprised if some features are sold out prior to show time.

Sign-up on our mailing list and keep watching this site. From time to time we’ll send out reminders and e-announcements to our mailing list to keep you informed of the latest news about The Festival.

Absolutely, and we can help coordinate group ticket sales. Just call The El Paso Community Foundation for assistance (see the Contact page) or you can buy tickets at the Plaza’s Box Office.

Oh yeah. Feel free to explore the entire range of seating options in the Plaza Theatre, including the balcony. We’d suggest you sit in different seats for each feature presentations so you can check out the wide range of “perspectives” the Plaza offers. The Screen is huge so you’ll get quite a view wherever you sit. Experiment.

It’s 44 feet wide! It’s also mounted on an armature so we can store it, intact, in the Plaza’s huge fly loft. Check out these behind-the-scenes pictures of the screen being installed.

Well, because…While ten days and over 60 screenings seems like a lot of time and space to play all our favorite films – it’s not. We started with a list of several hundred “must-see” titles and had to narrow it down to what you see scheduled. We think we’ve done a pretty good job of mixing things up and creating a list of films that will appeal to a wide range of attendees (and is representative of the 4 ½ decades the Plaza was a commercial theater).

Some did, some didn’t, and some we just don’t know. A complete list of all the films that played at The Plaza doesn’t exist, but we’re working on it. Our intention was not to try and recreate some of The Plaza’s original screenings, but rather survey a number of films that were released during The Plaza’s original commercial run. Additionally, for The Philanthropy Schedule, we’ve programmed films which we might have seen at The Plaza – if it had been open. Check out the Philanthropy Theatre for interesting films from the late ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and beyond.

Nope, don’t even think about bringing your five year old (… or your six, seven, eight…). As you’ll see in the Schedule, there are a few adult-oriented features which are scheduled in earlier timeslots and for which minors are specifically excluded from attending. Late Show R-rated films will be monitored for compliance with standard MPAA rating guidelines.