25 new picks help diversify Film Registry
Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi” and Pixar’s “WALL-E,” both beloved blockbuster films made largely in the Bay Area, were two of the 25 films selected for the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. But it’s the diversity that is most notable about the 2021 list as the registry strives to be more inclusive.
The annual list, which selects films “for their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage,” was announced this week by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Included are landmarks of Black cinema, such as Howard Alk’s 1971 “The Murder of Fred Hampton,” a documentary about the killing of the leader of the Illinois Black Panther Party; Michael Schultz’s exuberant 1975 coming-of-age comedydrama “Cooley High”; the groundbreaking 1979 stand-up comedy concert film “Richard Pryor: Live in Concert”; and Cheryl Dunye’s lowbudget 1996 indie hit “The Watermelon Woman.”
“Films help reflect our cultural history and creativity — and show us new ways of looking at ourselves — though movies haven’t always been deemed worthy of preservation,” Hayden said in a statement. “The National Film Registry will preserve our cinematic heritage, and ... the Library of Congress will work with our partners in the film community to ensure these films are preserved for generations to come.”
Also on the list are landmarks of Latino cinema, “Requiem-29” (1970), a social justice documentary about slain anti-war journalist Ruben Salazar; and Gregory Nava’s “Selena” (1997), featuring Jennifer Lopez in her first major film role, as slain Tejana singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez.
An Asian American social justice film, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” (1987), explores the 1981 death of the 27-year-old Chin, a victim of an anti-Asian hate crime. The film, by Christine Choy and Renee TajimaPeña, was nominated for an Academy Award.
“Pink Flamingos,” the LGBTQ camp classic by part-time San Francisco resident and beloved cult filmmaker John Waters, also made the list.
And there are plenty of Hollywood crowdpleasers on the list, including Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train” (1951); the Bette Davis-Joan Crawford face-off “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” (1962); “Sounder” (1972), featuring one of* the best performances by American treasure Cicely Tyson, who died in January at age 96; Robert Altman’s riff on Raymond Chandler, “The Long Goodbye” (1973); Wes Craven’s original “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984); and Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” which kicked off the beloved trilogy in 2001.
The oldest film on the list? 1902’s “Ringling Brothers Parade Film,” a simple, three-minute film about a parade in downtown Indianapolis. The significance: It prominently features affluent Black Americans enjoying the parade. It is a rare glimpse of a prosperous northern Black community at the turn of the 20th century at a time when Black Americans were rarely shown at all in films from that era, and if shown were usually presented mockingly or in caricature.
It’s a small example that illustrates that history — and cinematic history — is under a constant state of revision in the quest for the unvarnished truth, both good and bad, of our culture.
The annual selections are made after conferring with National Film Preservation Board members, library specialists and the general public. (Some 6,100 titles were nominated for this year’s list by the public in online voting. To nominate a film for the 2022 list, go to loc.gov/ programs/national-filmpreservation-board/filmregistry/nominate.)
Diversity was obviously a mission for this year’s selections. In November, the Library of Congress announced appointments to the 44-member board, with each member serving a four-year term. The board is chaired by film historian, educator and Turner Classic Movies host Jacqueline Stewart, an expert in Black and silent cinema.
Experts in Latin/ Hispanic, Native American and Asian cinema are also included on the board, as well as Hollywood powerhouses such as Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and Alfre Woodard. Board members from the Bay Area include Strand Releasing co-founder Marcus Hu and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive Film Curator Susan Oxtoby.