If you have been sitting on a short film, a feature, or any project that tells a Borderland story, now is your time. The Plaza Classic Film Festival is officially open for submissions for its ninth annual Local Flavor showcase and the prize money is real.

More than $3,500 is up for grabs, with awards broken down like this:

1st Place: $1,5002nd Place: $1,0003rd Place: $750Audience Favorite: $250Student Award (high school or college): $100

And the best part? There is no entry fee. Any artist who has submitted their work anywhere knows what a God send a free submission is!

To qualify, your film needs to have been completed on or after January 1, 2025, and must have a connection to the El Paso, Juárez, or Las Cruces area, whether it was made here, set here, or tied to the community in some meaningful way. Both short and feature-length films are eligible, but works in progress won’t be accepted.

Selected films will screen at the Plaza Theatre on Sunday, July 26, the final day of the festival, with awards announced at the end of the program. The showcase will be curated for the third year by Emmy Award-winning El Paso producer Javier Gonzalez, joined by UTEP assistant dean Jaime Mendez and 2024 UCLA film school graduate Sophia Santos.

The submission deadline is Monday, June 22 at 11:59 p.m. You can submit your film at plazaclassic.com/localflavor.

El Paso’s creative community never stops impressing, and this is a chance to get your work in front of a real audience on a legendary screen. If you have a story to tell, tell it. The 915 is waiting.

5 Movies With A Little El Paso In Them

Movies from the last decade that mention El Paso in some way, shape, or form.

Gallery Credit: Grizz

The Most Famous People You Didn’t Know Were El Pasoans

These are just a few of the most famous El Pasoans to grace the earth. Some of them, like Alan Tudyk, have played so many famous characters, its crazy that we could ever forget they were El Paso born!

Gallery Credit: Grizz

Still Shots From The KISS FM Short Film ‘Radio Silence’

Still frames from the KISS FM Short film made for the El Paso 48HR Film Project

Gallery Credit: Grizz