Library of Congress nominates 27 Latino movies for the National Film Registry

The Library of Congress has nominated 27 films by and about Latinos for its National Film Registry.

The nominees are part of an effort by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to increase Latino representation in U.S. cultural institutions.

Every year, the National Film Registry adds 25 titles from a list of nominees for inclusion, with an increased emphasis on films by women and people of color in recent years.

The National Film Registry currently has 850 titles, but only 24 current entries are Latino films. These include “Cyrano de Bergerac” — which nabbed the first acting Oscar for a Latino person with José Ferrer’s Academy Award for Best Actor — “West Side Story,” “La Bamba,” “Selena” and “Real Women Have Curves.”

While those 24 films represent less than 3% of the registry’s entries, nearly 20% of the U.S. population is Hispanic or Latino, according to census data.

“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,” Castro wrote to Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden, according to NBC News. “The media and entertainment industry is the narrative-creating and image-defining institution in America.”

The nominees this year include “Frida,” starring Salma Hayek as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo; independent New York movie “Raising Victor Vargas”; “Blood In Blood Out,” about a gang conflict in the Chicano community in East Los Angeles; and “Instructions Not Included,” which became the highest-grossing Spanish-language film to open in North America in 2013.

The nominees were announced after “Blue Beetle” — the first DC movie to star a Latino superhero — won the weekend’ box office, knocking “Barbie” from the top spot.

The final NFR selections will be announced in December. The full list of nominated films is below:

• “My Family” (1995)

• “Like Water For Chocolate” (1992)

• “... and the Earth Did Not Swallow Him” (1994)

• “Blood In Blood Out” (1993)

• “Raising Victor Vargas” (2002)

• “Frida” (2002)

• “I Like It Like That” (1994)

• “Walkout” (2006)

• “Mosquita y Mari” (2012)

• “The Milagro Beanfield War” (1988)

• “Under the Same Moon” (2007)

• “American Me” (1992)

• “Tortilla Soup” (2001)

• “Mi Vida Loca” (1993)

• “Instructions Not Included” (2013)

• “Maria Full of Grace” (2004)

• “Girlfight” (2000)

• “La Mission” (2010)

• “Sleep Dealer” (2008)

• “Alambrista!” (1977)

• “Our Latin Thing” (1972)

• “Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke” (1978)

• “A Better Life” (2011)

• “Gun Hill Road” (2011)

• “In the Time of the Butterflies” (2001)

• “Roberto Clemente” (2008)

• “The Longoria Affair” (2010)