A League of Their Own Among Films Added to U.S. Registry

As all of us film lovers know, movies are more than entertainment—they’re pieces of cultural history that speak to the past, present a peek into more contemporary topics or even dare to imagine what the future might be.

In an ongoing effort to preserve the films that “represent important cultural, artistic and historic achievements in filmmaking,” the U.S. National Film Registry selects a number of films each year to be included in its archive. This year, 25 films will be added to the registry, bringing the total collection to 600 films. They include:

3:10 to Yuma
Anatomy of a Murder
The Augustas
Born Yesterday
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
A Christmas Story
The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Title Fight
Dirty Harry
Hours for Jerome: Parts 1 and 2
The Kidnappers Foil
Kodachrome Color Motion Picture Tests
A League of Their Own
The Matrix
The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair
One Survivor Remembers
Parable
Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia
Slacker
Sons of the Desert
The Spook Who Sat by the Door
They Call It Pro Football
The Times of Harvey Milk
Two-Lane Blacktop
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
The Wishing Ring: An Idyll of Old England

To be included in the registry, films must be at least 10 years old. The Library of Congress Librarian makes the annual selections after reviewing titles nominated by the public and also conferring with Library film curators and members of the National Film Preservation Board.

Once films are selected, great care is taken to obtain an original copy of the movie, which is carefully preserved through the Library’s motion picture preservation program or “through collaborative ventures with other archives, motion picture studios and independent filmmakers,” according to the Library of Congress.

Do you want to nominate a favorite film for consideration in the National Film Registry? Submit your choice here.

What do you think of this year’s list? Are any of your favorite films Registry-bound?

Image via The Grindstone