Selena, Wall-E, & Return of the Jedi among films joining the National Film Registry

Last Updated on December 15, 2021

The Library of Congress’s National Film Registry has unveiled 25 new films, including Wall-E, Return of the Jedi, and more, that have been chosen for preservation and the list of movies is truly an eclectic group of films from various different genres. Among the new entries are also Selena, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, and Pink Flamingos.

The library plans to make its annual announcement today that the films, dating from 1902 to 2008, will be honored for their historical and cultural significance and will be added to the registry to help preserve them for future generations. Just to show how some campaign for films to be added to the registry, the inclusion of Return of the Jedi, released in 1983, is a culmination of a yearslong campaign by Star Wars fans to add the film to the registry. In the case of Selena, released in 1997, Hispanic lawmakers and experts earlier this year had pushed hard for the inclusion of the Jennifer Lopez-led biopic about slain Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez. The film served as Jennifer Lopez’s first major role. Those who supported the film’s inclusion believed it would serve as an example that would open more doors for Latinos in movies and television.

The library also noted that the lineup includes a number of films from influential directors of color including The Watermelon Woman (1996), the first feature by Cheryl Dunye, Cooley High (1975), Michael Schultz’s. comedy about Black high school seniors in 1960s Chicago, and Chicana (1979), Sylvia Morales’s 22-minute documentary about the history of Chicana and Mexican women. When speaking on the new additions as a whole, the Library of Congress said these films, which brings its registry to 825 movies, were chosen “because of their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.”

In order to make the cut, movies must be at least 10 years old and they are picked by Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, after consulting with members of the National Film Preservation Board and other specialists. The library also allows the public to submit nominations and you can do so at their website. More than 6,100 films were nominated this year and the highest number of votes went to Return of the Jedi.

Do YOU agree with some of the new additions to the National Film Registry?