The Paper's reporter Cheng Xiaojun
Every year, the National Film Protection Agency selects a batch of 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 twenty-five American domestic films that enjoyed this honor this year was released, including "Clockwork Orange", "Shrek monsters", "Batman: The Dark Knight", which are classics that are familiar to global audiences.
Poster of "Happy Luck Club"
In addition, in order to comply with the diversified route advocated by Hollywood in recent years and the "black life is also fate" equal rights movement in 2020, among the heirloom films that have been collected by the Library of Congress this year include "Happy Luck Club" by Chinese director Wang Ying, "Wild Lily", which made actor Sidney Poitier the first black film emperor in Oscar history, and "Sveterback's Song", a masterpiece of black exploitation films in the 1970s. The Free Rider, a documentary about the black civil rights movement in the United States in the 1960s, and The Lost Land, a rare feature film written and directed by Kathleen Collins, a rare black-American female director in the 1980s.
Lost Land poster
In addition to "The Lost Land," academy awards for best picture "Bomb Disposal," Hollywood's early silent films "Suspense" and "Bread," the 1929 adventure documentary "Driving Around the World," the 1929 film noir "Horrible," the student work short film "Vision," which exposed the racist core of Hollywood, The documentary "The Devil Sleepless", which reflects the beauty of Mexican society, and the documentary "Monakya Mountain", about the ecological conservation of Hawaii's Big Island, are both independently or co-directed by female directors, and the total number of films has reached nine, surpassing seven last year and setting a new record high again.
Appalling poster
Carla Hayden, the current director of the Library of Congress, said that the inclusion of the above films is to remind the world that female directors and minority directors have been subjected to various constraints along the way, but they have indeed made great contributions to American films, far beyond the general understanding.
Stills from Venice Kids Racing
In addition to the above films, this year's list includes Chaplin's early work "Venice Kids Racing", comedy partners Laura and Hardy's short film "Battle of the Century" throwing cream cake, song and dance director Vincente Minnelli's film debut "Moon Palace Treasure Box", often referred to as "Black Woodstock" concert documentary "Vaztax", and the disco song and dance film "Grease" starring John Travolta. The nonsense comedy "Fluke Double Overlord", which was popular in the 1980s, the documentary "Leman Havana" by the great German director Wim Wenders about Cuban musicians, and the series "The Land" by American experimental film director Robert Beavers.
Since the establishment of the Film Protection Bureau in 1988 and the first agreement on the list of protected films in 1989, a total of 800 films have been included in its scope of protection as of this year. 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 twenty-five films selected this year are also "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and the selection process is the same as ever: the nomination list is 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 compiled list is given to a review panel of more than twenty people led by the librarian of Congress, who finally finalizes the twenty-five works.
【Complete list of selected works in 2020】 (in chronological order)
1. Suspense (1913)
Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)
3. Bread (Bread, 1918)
4. The Battle of the Century (1927)
5. With Car and Camera Around the World (1929)
6. Cabin in the Sky (1943)
7. Outrage (1950)
8. 《金臂人》（The Man with the Golden Arm，1955）
Lilies of the Field (1963)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
11. Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
12. Wattstax (1973)
13. Grease (Grease, 1978)
14. The Blues Brothers (1980)
15. Losing Ground (1982)
16. Illusions (1982)
17. 《喜福会》（The Joy Luck Club，1993）
The Devil Never Sleeps (1994)
19. Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
20. The Ground (1993-2001)
21. Shrek (2001)
Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege (2006)
23. The Hurt Locker (2008)
24. The Dark Knight (2008)
Freedom Riders (2010)
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Zhe
Proofreader: Luan Meng