The Dark Knight , Shrek and Grease Join National Film Registry in Library of Congress
Warner Bros/Dc Comics/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock The Dark Knight
The National Film Registry's list for 2020 includes a record number of female directors.
The Library of Congress announced the 25 new movies joining the list, including The Dark Knight, Grease, The Blues Brothers, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker and the animated fan-favorite Shrek.
"My desire in making The Hurt Locker was to honor those in uniform serving in dangerous posts abroad, so I have been gratified by the resonance the film has had over the last 10 years," Bigelow, who won the Best Director Oscar in 2009, said, according to Variety. "For it to be selected by the National Film Registry is both humbling and thrilling."
Other films directed by women now on the National Film Registry include the 1913 silent film Suspense co-directed by Lois Weber; the 1918 silent film Bread, directed by Ida May Park; the 1929 film With Car and Camera Around the World by Aloha Wanderwell; the 1950 film Outrage, directed by Ida Lupino; Kathleen Collins' Losing Ground from 1982; 1982's Illusions, directed Julie Nash; the 1994 film The Devil Never Sleeps by Lourdes Portillo; and the 2006's Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege, co-directed by Joan Lander.
Michael Caulfield/WireImage Kathryn Bigelow winning her Best Director Oscar
The list also includes a record number of filmmakers of color, though the Library wants to make sure the inclusion isn't seen as a stunt. In total, women and people of color are behind 9 of the 25 films added to the list in 2020.
"With the inclusion of diverse filmmakers, we are not trying to set records but rather to set the record straight by spotlighting the astonishing contributions women and people of color have made to American cinema, despite facing often-overwhelming hurdles," Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, said in a statement.
The registry began in 1988 as a way for the library to honor and preserve movies for their cultural, historic and artist importance. With today's list, the total number of movies honored comes to 800.
Paramount Pictures/Fotos International/Getty Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in Grease
Read the full list of the new additions, in chronological order, below:
1. Suspense (1913)
2. Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)
3. Bread (1918)
4. The Battle of the Century (1927)
5. With Cara and Camera Around the World (1929)
6. Cabin in the Sky (1943)
7. Outrage (1950)
8. The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
9. Lilies of the Field (1963)
10. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
11. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)
12. Wattstax (1973)
13. Grease (1978)
14. The Blues Brothers (1980)
15. Losing Ground (1982)
16. Illusions (1982)
17. The Joy Luck Club (1993)
18. The Devil Never Sleeps (1994)
19. Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
20. The Ground (1993-2001)
21. Shrek (2001)
22. Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege (2006)
23. The Hurt Locker (2008)
24. The Dark Knight (2008)
25. Freedom Riders (2010)
