What I’m Nominating to the National Film Registry This Year – International Policy Digest

Its a period of consideration in America. This fall, many Americans will want their voices heard, and will nominate and vote for choices that best represent them. They back these candidates, hoping they turn out victorious, cheering them on and supporting them even in defeat. Its a process I hope my fellow Americans take seriously because the choices we make now will stay with us for years to come.

No, Im not talking about the imminent presidential and congressional elections in November (but, if youre reading this, VOTE), Im talking about the nomination process for the National Film Registry.

Established by an act of Congress in 1988, the National Film Registry is a program of the Library of Congress. Each year, the National Film Preservation Board, comprised of film industry professionals, filmmakers, critics, and historians, adds 25 movies that are at least 10 years old and considered culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant to the Registry. Final approval goes to the Librarian of Congress, currently the wonderful Dr. Carla Hayden, whom I have met on several occasions and is doing much to revitalize Americas library. As of last December, 775 titles have been added to the Registry, with the announcement of new selections this December making the number a nice, round 800.

The Registry itself compromises everything from feature-length films to animated shorts to documentaries to home movies to, yes, even one music video (which would, of course, be Michael Jacksons Thriller). Most of the great classics of American cinema have made it on: Citizen Kane; Casablanca; The Wizard of Oz; Vertigo; The Graduate; both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II; both Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back; various Scorsese films (Taxi Driver; Raging Bull; Goodfellas), various Spielberg films (Jaws; E.T.; Raiders of the Lost Ark; Schindlers List), and various Kubrick films (2001; Dr. Strangelove).

But there are also cult classics, crowd-pleasers, and fairly mainstream movies: The Big Lebowski; Ghostbusters; Top Gun; The Shawshank Redemption; The Lion King; The Princess Bride; Die Hard; The Goonies; Titanic; Superman; Jurassic Park; and The Shining, just to name a few. It also has its eyes on diversity, trying to be inclusive to as many Black, female, and LGBTQ filmmakers as possible. It has also retroactively fixed Best Picture Oscar winners, such as when the landmark gay film, 2005s Brokeback Mountain, was added 2 years ago instead of what did win Best Picture that year, the divisive Crash.

But occasionally, the National Film Registry can be a bit of an enigma. While last year included selections like bona fide classics like Amadeus, Platoon, and Clerks, which writer and director Kevin Smith has been over the moon about, it also included the, lets say, interesting choice of the 1984 Prince star-vehicle Purple Rain. (I quote Fox Mulder from The X-Files: Great album, deeply flawed movie.)

Regardless of who gets chosen, the best possible copy of the film will be taken or sent to the Library of Congress Packard Campus in Culpeper, VA, where staff will preserve it and researchers can have access to it. The Packard Campus, which I refer to simply as The Bunker due to the facility originating as a nuclear bunker during the Cold War, is one of my favorite places in the world. The technology used to preserve classic pieces of media is impressive, as is the sense of mission and purpose in ensuring that future generations get to reap the benefits of these preservation efforts.

But what can the average person do to help these efforts? Simple, of course: nominate films to the National Film Registry. That means you can nominate and vote for titles that you want included on the NFR. There are substantial gaps in the Registry, but the National Film Preservation Board does in fact listen to the input of the general public. Several recent inductees, including Jurassic Park and Clerks, were selected in part because they were the biggest vote-getters of their respective years.

The deadline to submit is September 15th, meaning you still have time! Members of the public are invited to nominate up to 50 individual movies. And to inspire you to participate, Ive included a list of what Im nominating this year:

See more here:
What I'm Nominating to the National Film Registry This Year - International Policy Digest

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero