National Film Registry Adds 'Clerks', 'Boys Don't Cry', 'Purple Rain', 'Sleeping Beauty' & More
Another year has almost come to a close, and that means it's time for the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress to add 25 more movies to their archive that protects and preserves "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films."
This year, there seems to be a concerted effort to better represent a more diverse slate of films rather than common beloved classics. While there are entries like Clerks, Platoon and Sleeping Beauty, this year's entries also include the LGBTQ documentary Before Stonewall, the true story Boys Don't Cry, and even an old recording of immigrants arriving fresh off the boat at Ellis Island in New York City. Get the full list of 2019 National Film Registry movies below.
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the annual selection of 25 of America's most influential motion pictures to the National Film Registry. Hayden said in a statement:
"The National Film Registry has become an important record of American history, culture and creativity. Unlike many other honors, the registry is not restricted to a time, place or genre. It encompasses 130 years of the full American cinematic experience – a virtual Olympiad of motion pictures. With the support of Congress, the studios and other archives, we are ensuring that the nation's cinematic history will be around for generations to come."
As of this year, the library of films in the National Film Registry has reached nearly 800 movies, including everything from blockbusters to documentaries, silent movies to animation, independent films, and some of the earliest film footage every recorded.
The selections this year span 100 years of filmmaking from 1903 through 2003. The oldest entry from 1903 is merely a small piece of documentary footage chronicling the arrival of immigrants in New York on Ellis Island. Immigration has always been part of America's history, and this was the first time it was ever captured on film. Check it out here:
Speaking of people still dealing with prejudice, Boys Don't Cry represents the plight that transgender men and women are still dealing with today. Despite being made 20 years ago, transgender rights are still under siege everyday by people who refuse to let others be true to themselves. In 1999, it was amazing that this movie was even made. And in 2019, it's frustrating that people still refuse to accept transgender people like the film's subject, Brandon Teena, a role that earned Hilary Swank an Oscar. That makes Boys Don't Cry a worthy and important entry in history.
While we're talking about sects of the population that continue to be underrepresented, the National Film Registry added seven movies from female directors, who still don't get nearly as many opportunities as their male counterparts. That's the most movies from female directors since the first time the National Film Registry preserved movies in 1989. In addition to Boys Don't Cry from director Kimberley Peirce, the selected films include the LGBTQ documentary Before Stonewall from Greta Schiller; the indie drama Girlfriends by Claudia Weill; an avant-garde film called My Name Is Oona from Gunvor Nelson; Patricia Cardoso's coming-of-age indie Real Women Have Curves starring a young America Ferrera, the civil rights documentary I Am Somebody from Madeline Anderson; and A New Leaf from Elaine May, the first woman to write, direct and star in a major American studio feature.
Other significant entries include Kevin Smith's Clerks, which perfectly captures the voice of a generation, depicts a decade that is slipping further and further away in time, and perfectly represents the spirit of independent cinema in young filmmakers. There's also Disney's Sleeping Beauty, the last of the classic era of animated fairytales from the studio, Oliver Stone's harsh and gritty war drama Platoon, and the touching story of a boy and his dog in Old Yeller.
As for the rest of the movies, you can find the full list below and get more information on each movie over here.
1. Amadeus (1984)
2. Becky Sharp (1935)
3. Before Stonewall (1984)
4. Body and Soul (1925)
5. Boys Don't Cry (1999)
6. Clerks (1994)
7. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
8. Emigrants Landing at Ellis Island (1903)
9. Employees Entrance (1933)
10. Fog of War (2003)
11. Gaslight (1944)
12. George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute (1937)
13. Girlfriends (1978)
14. I Am Somebody (1970)
15. Last Waltz, The (1978)
16. My Name Is Oona (1969)
17. A New Leaf (1971)
18. Old Yeller (1957)
19. The Phenix City Story (1955)
20. Platoon (1986)
21. Purple Rain (1984)
22. Real Women Have Curves (2002)
23. She's Gotta Have It (1986)
24. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
25. Zoot Suit (1981)