Tag: Library of Congress

Library of Congress names 25 more films to registry

One of our favorite things about the holiday season is that each December the Library of Congress announces the addition of 25 films to the National Film Registry.

In its announcement this year, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden stated that the film were selected because of their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage. The films in the class of 2019 range from Prince’s 1984 autobiographical hit “Purple Rain” and Spike Lee’s 1986 breakout movie “She’s Gotta Have It” to Disney’s 1959 timeless fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty” and this year’s biggest public vote getter, Kevin Smith’s 1994 “Clerks.”

“The National Film Registry has become an important record of American history, culture and creativity,” said Hayden. “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.”

A musical biopic, a heartwarming tale about man’s best friend, early black cinema, a notorious real-life crime drama and the anatomy of war represent the diversity of the 2019 registry. They include blockbusters, documentaries, silent movies, animation and independent films. The 2019 selections bring the number of films in the registry to 775, which is a small fraction of the Library’s vast moving-image collection of more than 1.6 million items.

The list of 25 includes:

  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)

LOC 2018 film registry selections listed

The winter holidays season is a time of many delights, despite what one’s spiritual and/or religious beliefs are.

One of our favorite events, however, is the annual announcement each December by the Library of Congress of 25 films that are being named to the National Film Registry.

Some of these films are well-known award-winning titles, some are highly respected rarely seen titles and others are landmark productions reflecting the times they were made and changes in American culture.

The 25 films just named to the registry include one dealing with alcoholism (Days of Wine and Roses), sexual norms (Brokeback Mountain), the Vietnam War (Hearts and Minds), and the emergence of African-American filmmakers.

There are musicals on the list two including Academy Award-winning best picture My Fair Lady and the Gene Kelly-Frank Sinatra film On the Town.

“Monterey Pop,” 0ne of the best rock music movies ever made, is added to the list. It took place before Woodstock and some of the concert performances filmed are vastly superior to those of the festival that happened later.

For those with a hankering for science fiction and horror films, there are two added this year: Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” and Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.”

Lots of film making giants are reflected in this list including Spencer Tracy (Bad Day at Black Rock), Walt Disney (Cinderella), Paul Newman (Hud), Orson Welles (The Lady from Shanghai), and Alfred Hitchcock (Rebecca).

This is the sort of list that makes one want to learn more about film, particularly about titles that aren’t widely know.

So, take a look at the list and then, if you so choose, watch some of those you don’t know much about it. We recommend it.

Films Selected for the 2018 National Film Registry 
(alphabetical order)

  1. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
  2. Broadcast News (1987)
  3. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
  4. Cinderella (1950)
  5. Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  6. Dixon-Wanamaker Expedition to Crow Agency (1908)
  7. Eve’s Bayou (1997)
  8. The Girl Without a Soul (1917)
  9. Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People (1984)
  10. Hearts and Minds (1974)
  11. Hud (1963)
  12. The Informer (1935)
  13. Jurassic Park (1993)
  14. The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
  15. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
  16. Monterey Pop (1968)
  17. My Fair Lady (1964)
  18. The Navigator (1924)
  19. On the Town (1949)
  20. One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
  21. Pickup on South Street (1953)
  22. Rebecca (1940)
  23. The Shining (1980)
  24. Smoke Signals (1998)
  25. Something Good – Negro Kiss (1898)

Linguists translating Mayan papers

The Library of Congress website is a source of vast information. One of the latest posts involves translating Mayan documents.

Here’s a portion of that story:

On March 13 and 14, an international team of linguists visited the Library of Congress to transcribe and translate, for the first time, the “Guatemalan Priests Handbook,” a rare and important manuscript in the Library’s Jay I. Kislak Collection.

Dating from the early 16th century, the manuscript is written in several indigenous Mayan languages. The visiting linguists, experts in the earliest Christian theologies written in the Americas, were Saqijix Candelaria Lopez Ixcoy of Guatemala’s Universidad Rafael Landivar, an authority on the manuscript’s ancient k’iche language; Sergio Romero of the University of Texas, Austin; Frauke Sachse of the University of Bonn; and Garry Sparks of George Mason University.

For more of this story and to see pictures, click on LOC Mayan study