Every movie star needs a distinctive look, a charming personality, and the talent to back it all up. Enter El Paso—its hat tipped ever so slightly over its eyes—which just had its breakout year. Not only was the city featured on MovieMaker’s list for “The Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2026,” but El Paso also served as the setting for Paul Thomas Anderson’s critical darling, “One Battle After Another.”

If it takes years to become an overnight success, El Paso has proved it with its longtime dedication to cinema’s creation, promotion, and preservation. Film buffs on a pilgrimage to the city will find traces of all three at the legendary Plaza Theatre, the rapidly growing El Paso Film Festival, and the filming locations of modern classics.

And now, our feature presentation:

The Plaza Theatre: 100 Years Young

If you’re tired of drab strip malls and long for a time when commercial architecture was treated as an art, you just might hear the swelling music of Ennio Morricone as you enter the Plaza Theatre. Built in 1930, the theatre features a Spanish Colonial Revival design that not only gives our greatest art form the imperial home it deserves, but coordinates beautifully with El Paso’s own cultural history.

Just walking through the lobby, you’ll be marveling at the painted ceilings, mosaic flooring, ornate stairways, and antique furniture. Once seated, the design is intended to replicate the feeling of being outside in a Spanish courtyard, the starry night sky twinkling above you. To round out the atmosphere, the Plaza is one of the few classic theatres that still has its original Mighty Wurlitzer Blaban III organ—one of only six ever made—which is in fully working condition. You’ll hear it played before films at the Plaza Theatre Film Festival and may also hear it accompany silent films.

Speaking of, the Plaza is no museum, resting on its laurels. It’s still going strong with a full calendar of live events like comedy shows and music, Broadway performances, and a regular schedule of film festivals, including the Plaza Classic Film Festival. Equipped with a 35mm film projector and 4K digital projectors, the Plaza presents the greatest films of all time in their most flattering formats. Watching “Casablanca” at home is a nice experience, but at the Plaza, it’s a transcendent one.

If you remember the first time you went to the movies as a child—when it seemed like stepping into a world of limitless imagination—the Plaza Theatre just might stir up some of that old magic. To borrow from Bogie, it’s “the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Punch Your Ticket to the El Paso Film Festival

Of all the film festivals that grace the hallowed halls of the Plaza Theatre, there is none bigger—or growing faster—than the El Paso Film Festival. As the premier film festival of the southwest, it’s a Pulp Fiction adrenaline shot for daring independent cinema at a time when the film business is putting brands before auteurs. Past festivals have welcomed the likes of Lloyd Kaufman, Robert Rodriguez, and Kevin Smith—all of whom made their name in the micro-budget space.

What really makes the festival unique—in Texas and nationally—is its bi-national character. Sitting right on the Mexican border, the festival draws not just Texan and New Mexican filmmakers, but the deep bench of up-and-coming Mexican artists, as well. You never know—you just might catch the debut film of the next Guillermo Del Toro.

If it sounds like this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, the festival typically runs during a weekend in late September and offers a wide range of ticket options to keep attendance affordable. That way, you don’t have to skimp on the Criterion sales throughout the year, because yes, you do need that new 4K transfer of “Seven Samurai.”

Famous Filming Locations in El Paso

Let’s start with the most recent one: One Battle After Another. El Paso serves as the film’s fictional city of Baktan Cross, with downtown becoming the chaotic labyrinth Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Bob, must navigate to find his daughter. If you’ve seen the film, you may remember Bob attempting a daring leap from the roof of one building to another (“attempting” being the crucial word there). Yep, that was El Paso. Locals were even cast in small parts to texture the film with the sort of El Pasoan authenticity you can’t find at a Hollywood talent agency.

DiCaprio may be the leading man of the moment, but back in 1972, it was King of Cool, Steve McQueen. The king’s court was El Paso that year as he filmed “The Getaway,” also starring Ali McGraw and directed by the notorious Sam Peckinpah. While some of the filming locations from the movie are no longer there, the film does feature the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center and the Scottish Rite Temple—both of which are still standing.

Several other classic films have relied upon El Paso’s landscape, such as “Paris, Texas,” “Traffic,” and “Sicario.” You may even remember a movie called “Glory Road,” which wasn’t just filmed in El Paso, but is about one of the city’s college basketball teams.  

There’s No Place like El Paso

Some say if you click your bootheels three times, you wake up in El Paso. With its Spanish architecture, limestone mountains, and Chihuahuan Desert, it’s a cinematographer’s dream. That dream’s soon to become reality as new film incentives hit Texas in 2025, positioning El Paso to play a large part in the future of cinema.

But you don’t have to hop in a DeLorean. Today, film buffs will be right at home amongst El Paso’s famed Plaza Theatre, the indie-boosting El Paso Film Festival, and the real locations from some of the greatest films ever made.

Before that third click of your heels teleports you to the middle of a busy intersection, make sure you’ve got a hotel booked so you land in a king-sized bed.