El Paso, Texas has dreamy vistas, historic downtown buildings, and storied history along the border it shares with Mexico. With the acclaim for Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which uses the city as one of its main locations, it may also be ready to step up as a film destination.
Thanks to praise for the film and a new Texas film incentive that gives TV and film productions rebates of up to 31% of their qualified in-state spending, the sprawling, largely Latino city of about 880,000 is having a moment, and aims to seize on it.
At the recent El Paso Film Festival, which coincided with the September 26 release of One Battle After Another, local filmmakers reveled in their moment in the spotlight — and shared stories of watching Anderson and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro mixing it up with locals…