The 17th annual El Paso Community Foundation Plaza Classic Film Festival is accepting submissions for its Local Flavor Showcase and Awards, which highlights locally made and connected films. Filmmakers will vie for $3,650 in cash awards — including new awards for student films.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival is accepting short and feature-length films (works-in-progress will not be accepted) now through 11:59 pm Monday, June 17, 2024. Go to plazaclassic.com/local flavor to submit. There is no charge to submit a film.

Projects must have been completed on or after January 1, 2023 and must be made locally, set locally, or have a connection of some kind to the El Paso-Juarez-Las Cruces area, which should be noted in the online entry form’s Synopsis window.

Entries selected by a panel of judges will be announced in July and screened as part of the Local Flavor Showcase and Awards during the Plaza Classic Film Festival, which runs July 18-28, in and around the Plaza Theatre.

The seventh annual Local Flavor Awards will be announced at the end of the showcase. This year’s awards include the $1,500 First Prize, $1,000 Second Prize, and $750 Third Prize. A $250 Audience Favorite Award will be determined by a live text-to-vote during the showcase.

New this year: a $100 First Prize for a film by a college student, and a $50 First Prize for a film by a high school student.

Local Flavor is sponsored by the El Paso Film & Creative Industries Commission, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and the El Paso Community Foundation.

This year’s Local Flavor Showcase and Awards will be curated by El Paso-based, Emmy Award-winning Producer Javier Gonzalez (Funny Pages, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, In the Summers), whose projects have screened at the Venice, Toronto, Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca and SXSW film festivals; award-winning Las Cruces filmmaker and NMSU Creative Media Institute associate professor Ilana Lapid (Yochi, Red Mesa, La Catrina), whose work has shown at film festivals around the world; and Asia Saucedo, a member of the El Paso Community Foundation staff, film aficionado, and longtime Plaza Classic Film Festival contributor .

Call 915-533-4020 or email local@plazaclassic.com for more information.