Every year, the Library of Congress selects movies deemed important “for their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance” to add to their National Film Registry, which are then preserved at the Library for posterity.
Members of the public are invited to suggest films for consideration, and those titles are often among those included in the final list. This year, there were 6,875 different films submitted, and in the end 25 movies were added to the Registry, including a bunch that were heavily supported by public votes. Those included Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the hugely successful 1991 blockbuster directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Library of Congress will now have “I’ll be back,” in its collection for eternity.
Also on the list this year: Home Alone, another massively popular (and quite violent!) film from the early 1990s about a boy, played by Macaulay Culkin, defending his home from burglars on Christmas. But the full National Film Registry list for 2023 ranges from silent films from the 1920s to the Academy Award winner for Best Picture from ten years ago, 12 Years a Slave, and run the gamut from children’s films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Lady and the Tramp to romantic dramas like Love & Basketball to brilliant media satires like Spike Lee’s Bamboozled.
READ MORE: Iron Man Selected to Join the National Film Registry
The full list of new additions to the National Film Registry for 2023 are:
A Movie Trip Through Filmland (1921)Dinner at Eight (1933)Bohulano Family Film Collection (1950s-1970s)Helen Keller: In Her Story (1954)Lady and the Tramp (1955)Edge of the City (1957)We’re Alive (1974)Cruisin’ J-Town (1975)¡Alambrista! (1977)Passing Through (1977)Fame (1980)Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)The Lighted Field (1987)Matewan (1987)Home Alone (1990)Queen of Diamonds (1991)Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)The Wedding Banquet (1993)Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)Apollo 13 (1995)Bamboozled (2000)Love & Basketball (2000)12 Years a Slave (2013)20 Feet from Stardom (2013)
The total number of films in the National Film Registry now stands at 875. If you’d like to submit a movie for consideration for the Registry in 2024 (Gymkata perhaps?), you can do so at this website. The deadline for submissions is August 15.
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Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky
