Joaquin Castro Nominates ‘Mi Familia,’ ‘Frida’ and 25 Other Features for National Film Registry
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Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro announced on Monday that he has nominated 27 films for potential addition to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, all of which feature Latino filmmakers, culture and history.
“Given the film industry’s continued exclusion of Latinos, we must make a special effort to ensure that Latino Americans’ contributions to American filmmaking are appropriately celebrated and included in the National Film Registry,” Rep. Castro wrote in his nomination letter. “The continued exclusion of Latinos in the film industry affects Latinos seeking opportunities in the industry and shapes how Latinos are perceived, stereotyped, and misunderstood in American life.”
Among the films nominated by Castro are “Frida” the 2002 biopic of legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo that earned Salma Hayek an Oscar nomination. Other Oscar nominated performances, such as Catalina Sandino Moreno and Demián Bichir in the immigration dramas “Maria Full of Grace” and “A Better Life,” were also included.
Castro’s list also includes “Mi Familia,” Gregory Nava’s beloved 1995 drama starring Edward James Olmos, Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales and Jennifer Lopez in a multigenerational story of a Mexican family moving to and settling in Los Angeles.
Olmos is also on the list with two films he directed: “American Me,” a crime drama starring Olmos as a teen gangster who becomes the head of the prison gang La Eme; and “Walkout,” a 2006 film about the 1968 East LA student protests that became a major moment in the Chicano movement.
Castro’s list came after the Democrat, along with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, put out an open call for suggestions with hundreds of films submitted. The Library of Congress adds 25 films each year to the National Film Registry, with 850 movies currently listed.
Of those films, Castro’s office says that only 24 are considered Latino films. Among the Latino films listed in the National Film Registry are the 1961 Best Picture Oscar winner “West Side Story” and the 1950 film “Cyrano De Bergerac,” which made Jose Ferrer the first Latino actor to win an Oscar.
Read the full list of Castro’s nominations here.
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