National Film Registry

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Main
  • Image Links
  • Wikipedia
  • All Subpages
  • Create New
    /wiki/National Film Registrywork
    These films are not selected as the 'best' American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture. They reflect who we are as a people and as a nation.

    The National Film Registry is a department of the United States Library of Congress designed to index American-made films that are "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant". In other words, the films that end up on the Registry are the ones that deserve to live forever according to the US government. This is among the highest honors an American movie can receive, much higher than even the Academy Awards (and, believe it or not, less politically meddled with).

    Up to twenty-five movies are selected each year (usually in December) to be listed on the Registry. To qualify, an entry must be at least ten years old. Members of the public are allowed to suggest up to 50 titles per year for inclusion. The official list is here; the entries have been copied to this page. Anyone interested in suggesting some worthy titles can do so here; nominations do not carry over from year to year, but the Library of Congress does keep a list of famous films that didn't make the list in previous years.

    Of the 775 films on the list in 2019, 62 were directed or co-directed by women; a list can be found on the LOC's website.

    As of the 2023 selection, the oldest film on the Registry is The Newark Athlete (1891), and the newest are 12 Years a Slave and 20 Feet from Stardom (both 2013). Only three film have been added to the Registry in their first year of eligibility: Freedom Riders (2010) in 2020, and 12 Years a Slave and 20 Feet from Stardom (both 2013) in 2023.


    Films in the Registry

    Added in 1989 or the 1990s

    1989

    The first twenty-five entries.

    1990

    1991

    1992

    The year which brought the total to 100.

    1993

    1994

    1995

    1996

    1997

    1998

    1999

    Added in the 2000s

    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

    2004

    2005

    2006

    2007

    2008

    The year which brought the total to 500.

    2009

    Added in the 2010s

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    2017

    2018

    2019

    Added in the 2020s

    2020

    2021

    2022

    Unlike previous years, only twenty-four movies are listed on the National Film Registry website for 2022.

    2023