The Paper's reporter Cheng Xiaojun
Every year, the National Film Protection Administration selects a number of domestic films to enjoy the treatment of national treasure-level cultural works, which are permanently collected in the Library of Congress to help them survive in the world. On December 14, local time, the list of 25 films that enjoyed this honor this year was released, including "Star Wars Episode III: Return of the Jedi", "Ghost Street", "Lord of the Rings 1: The Guardian" and the animated film "Robot Story", which are familiar to global audiences.
Star Wars Episode III: Return of the Jedi poster. After the launch of the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, the film was reordered as Star Wars Episode VI.
In recent years, the National Film Protection Agency has closely followed the trend of social movements, and the 25 so-called classic works released at the end of the year have particularly focused on the theme of minorities such as blacks, and this year is no exception. Among the 25 new films this time includes the 1997 biopic "Weeping Roses". Starring Jennifer Lopez, who was still a newcomer to the film industry at the time, the film is based on the true life experiences of Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez.
Dragon Tiger Junior Team poster
There is also the youth comedy "Dragon and Tiger Junior Team" released in 1975. The film tells the growth experience of a group of Chicago high school seniors, filming cost only $750,000, but after its release, it won $13 million at the box office, which was one of the highest-grossing independent films in the United States that year.
In addition, "When the Son Left Home", released in 1972, is about the hardships of a black family in the South during the Great Depression in the United States, and was selected into the National Film Critics Association's annual top ten list that year, and also received four Oscar nominations.
Poster of "In Search of the Watermelon Girl"
And "Looking for a Watermelon Girl", which was once known as the representative work of the "New Queer Film Movement", was also included in the list this time. This pseudo-documentary, written and directed by black female director Cheryl Dunye, won the Berlin Film Festival Teddy Bear Award in 1996, and its status in film history cannot be ignored.
Aboard the Aviator poster
The emphasis on the black community was even shown in the three early silent films that made the list this year. Released in 1926, the entire cast of "Flying Master" from the main actor to the supporting role was African-American, and when it was released that year, it also focused on the black audience market. The 1930 gospel film The Train to Hell was written and directed by a black preacher and was primarily used to preach Christianity to black catholics throughout the United States. There is also the short film "Spirit Brothers Circus", according to the official statement of the National Film Protection Agency, the reason why this three-minute-long new restoration short film was chosen is also because the black American group presented in the film is completely different from the image of deliberately ugly and ridiculed in early American film works, which is eye-catching.
In addition, this year's three other films focus on the theme of unfair treatment of minority groups in American society, and the inclusion of these works is particularly relevant today, when racial contradictions in the United States are still acute.
The 1970 short film Requiem for the 29th chronicles an anti-war march by more than 20,000 Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles on August 29, 1970, to protest the U.S. government's initiation of the Vietnam War, which resulted in a forced deportation by the police, resulting in many deaths and injuries. The 1971 documentary Murder hampton follows the assassination of Illinois Black Panther Leader Fred Hampton in the early hours of December 4, 1969, by Chicago police and the FBI. Another 1987 film, Who Killed Chen Guoren, chronicles the tragic death of this young Chinese man who was originally a good old Man who was beaten to death by two white men on the eve of his new marriage.
Poster of "Who Killed Chen Guoren"
In addition to the above films, this year's list also includes suspense master Hitchcock's famous "Train Freak", Hollywood's classic suspense film "Lan Boudoir", "Gate" keyboardist Ray Manzarek's experimental short film "Evergreen" in his early years, and "Flowers and Trees", which won the 1932 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.
Since the establishment of the Directorate for the Protection of Films in 1988 and the first agreement on the list of protected films in 1989, as of this year, 825 films have been included in its scope of protection. The length of the selected film is not limited, whether it has been released or not does not matter, the only requirement is that the film must be more than ten years old. In accordance with the usual requirements for screening and protecting films, the 25 films selected this year are also "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant", and the selection process is the same as in the past: the nomination list is first given by film experts and general audiences (the public can log on to the official website of the Library of Congress to submit the list, and more than 5,000 films have been nominated by the public this year), and the list is given to a review team of more than twenty people led by the director of the Library of Congress, who finally finalizes the 25 works.
However, compared with previous years, this year has also specially increased the channels for netizens to vote, and the selection of two blockbusters, "Star Wars Episode III: Return of the Jedi" and "Lord of the Rings 1: The Messenger of the Rings", is derived from this.
【Complete list of selected works in 2021】 (in chronological order)
1. Jubilo (1919)
2. Ringling Brothers Parade Film (1902)
3. The Flying Ace (1926)
4. Hellbound Train (1930)
5 Flowers and Trees (1932)
6. Strangers on a Train (1951)
7. 《兰闺惊变》（What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962）
8. Evergreen (1965)
9. Requiem of the 29th (Requiem-29 1970)
10. 《谋杀汉普顿》（The Murder of Fred Hampton 1971）
11. Pink Flamingos (1972)
12. When The Son Leaves Home (Sounder 1972)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
14. Cooley High (1975)
15. Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)
16. The Mexican Woman (Chicana 1979)
17. The Wobblies (1979)
18. Star Wars Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983)
19. 《猛鬼街》（A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984）
20. Stop Making Sense (1984)
21. Who Killed Vincent Chin? 1987）
22. The Watermelon Woman (1996)
23. The Weeping Rose (Selena 1997)
24. 《指环王1：护戒使者》（The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001）
25. Robot Story (WALL-E 2008)
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Zhe
Proofreader: Liu Wei