By Miriam Raftery

May 27, 2023  (San Diego’s East County) – The County of San Diego is kicking off its annual movies in the park, which this year features 150 movies at dozens of parks across the County.  Bring the family—along with blankets and lawn chairs—to cozy up for a night under the stars.

The season opens this Memorial Day weekend at Waterfront Park downtown and runs through October.  East  County and inland locations include Anza Borrego,Campo, El Cajon, Encanto, Escondido, Julian , Lakeside,  La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Pine Valley,  Potrero, Poway, Ramona, Rancho Penasquitos, Rolando, San Carlos, and Spring Valley.

Theme weekends have also been scheduled, including Juneteenth (June 16 and 17), Comic-Con (July 21-22), Ladies Night (Aug. 12), International Dog Day (Aug. 25 and 26), Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15) and Halloween (late October).

Documentary co-produced by ECM journalist Mimi Pollack is among finalists.

By Matthew Manosh

March 10, 2022 (San Diego) --The 29th Annual San Diego Latino Festival begins March 10th and runs through March 20th at the Fashion Valley AMC. It will be the first time the festival will be in person since the start of the pandemic.

The festival features over 160 films from Central America and The United States, including local film makers from San Diego. Each day they’ll have art from prominent Latino artists on display, as well as daily live music. The full schedule of the events can be found here.

There are many remarkable films being shown in the 10 days of the festival, including films from film makers from in and around San Diego and East County.

East County News Service

June 12, 2019 (El Cajon) - Just in time for summer vacation, Regal's Summer Movie Express returns to Regal's Parkway Plaza Stadium 18 in Parkway Plaza and Edwards Rancho San Diego Stadium 15 in El Cajon.

Summer Movie Express shows films rated G and PG every Tuesday and Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. from June 25th to August 21st.  Admission is just $1.

The full schedule of films is below:

East County News Service

August 26, 2015 (Spring Valley)—The SAPS, a local Laurel and Hardy group, will show comedic classic films on August 29^th in Spring Valley, featuring their favorite “students of laughter 101 in some of their greatest misadventures,” organizers promise.

The event,  “Back to Skool, I mean School Night" SAPS at Sea event  will take place in Williams Hall at Trinity Church, 3902 Kenwood Drive in Spring Valley. Doors open at 6:30 with show time starting at 7 p.m.  A donation of $6 per person is requested.

July 7, 2014 (San Diego) – Families are invited to beat the heat on Wednesday evenings this summer  by enjoying dive-in movies (float in the pool with inner tubes provided) and $5 ice skating.

It’s all part of Hot  Kroc Nights at the Salvation Army Kroc Center at 6845 University Avenue, just one block west of La Mesa.  Scroll down for a full schedule and details.

May 29,2014 (Alpine)- Movies in the park return at the Viejas Outlet Center in Alpine, where you can enjoy watching the latest action thrillers and other blockbuster films while lounging under the stars in a serene park setting. 

Admission is  $5, which includes a regular-size popcorn, plus a 12oz. soda and preferred seating. Children 12 and under are free but must be accompanied by an adult. Movies start at 8 p.m. Movies run from late May through August 22.

To download and print the 2014 schedule, please click HERE or click "read more" and scroll down. 

April 16, 2014 (El Cajon) – Inequality for All, a film by Robert Reich,  documents how  massive consolidation of wealth by a handful of people threatens the middle class, the viability of the American workforce and the foundation of democracy . Reich is the former U.S. Secretary of Labor and professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. 

The film will be shown on April 17 at 7:15 p.m. during a meeting of the East County Democratic Club at  Coco's Restaurant, 1025 Fletcher Parkway, El Cajon, CA 92020.  A discussion will be held after the film showing.  View a film trailer here: 

The Lemon Grove Historical Society, New Pacific Productions and the Lemon Grove Library will present a free, seven-part history film series, "John Adams," on Wednesdays between Jan. 8  and  Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the Putnam Community Room of the Lemon Grove Library, 3001 School Lane.



The award-winning series stars Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney as John and Abigail Adams and traces their life and times through the American Revolution and Adams' tenure as the nation's second president to their deaths. Produced by Tom Hanks, directed by Tom Hooper and based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Adams, the series is noted for its historical authenticity, stirring characterizations and epic scale.

National tour of “films to change our world” comes to East County

April 13, 2013 (Julian) -- May 17-19 brings the 2nd Annual Julian Wild & Scenic Film Festival-Films To Change Your World, with countless inspiring titles, to the Julian High School for the benefit of the Volcan Mountain Foundation and its work to protect and preserve Volcan Mountain in its natural state for all generations.

“The selection committee believes these are the best of over 100 films screened at the annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival hosted every January in Nevada City, California,” said Nancy Kramer, co-founder of the Julian Film Festival.  Click here for a full list of films.

"I thought wind energy was something I could believe in. This film suggests it's just another corporate flim-flam game. - Film critic Rogert Ebert

May 10, 2012 (San Diego)  A special free showing of the award-winning documentary ‘Windfall,’ an exploration of industrial wind impacts on a rural community, will lbe held tonight at 7 p.m. at the Landmark Theater in Hillcrest. The showing is cosponsored by Backcountry Against Dumps and The Protect Our Communities Foundation.

Hundreds of industrial wind turbines are currently proposed for public, private and tribal lands in East County with 400-800 thousand acres of Wind Resource Area proposed for designation in the County's Wind Energy Ordinance & Plan Amendment DEIR.

June 4, 2011 (La Mesa) -- This summer the City of La Mesa is offering fun, safe, and FREE outdoor family activities including the Chipotle “Sundays at Six” Summer Concert Series each Sunday in June and July at Harry Griffith Park. In addition, the city hosts a popular outdoor movie night July 29 at La Mesita Park plus a special "dive-in" showing at the La Mesa pool July 15.

July 17, 2010 (San Diego) – Looking for some summertime family fun? San Diego County has announced “Movies in the Park” at parks and pools countywide. Grab your beach chairs, beat the heat, and head out to a park near you—including numerous locations in East County.

Season kicks off June 16 with Monsters vs. Aliens, wraps up with Avatar

June 10, 2010 (Alpine) — The Viejas Outlet Center officially kicks off its free “Movies in the Park” series on June 16 with a showing of the hit movie Monsters vs. Aliens. The season concludes this year with Avatar, the blockbuster that set new worldwide sales records.