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Cinematic Treasures Named to National Film Registry

The horrors of war, the heroism of sacrifice, a vaudeville pioneer, the devil and a master of the macabre represent the diversity of an elite selection of films recognized for their cultural, historic or aesthetic significance. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced today the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be named to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Selection to the registry will help ensure that these films will be preserved for all time.

"The National Film Registry showcases the extraordinary diversity of America’s film heritage and the disparate strands making it so vibrant," said Billington. "By preserving these films, we protect a crucial element of American creativity, culture and history."

Spanning the period 1913-2004, the films named to the registry include Hollywood classics, documentaries, silent movies, student films, independent and experimental motion pictures. This year’s selections bring the number of films in the registry to 650, which is a small fraction of the Library’s vast moving-image collection of 1.3 million items. 

The 2014 registry list includes such iconic movies as "Saving Private Ryan," a treatise about the harsh realities of war, which earned director Steven Spielberg an Academy Award; the chilling 1968 horror masterpiece "Rosemary’s Baby"; Arthur Penn’s Western saga starring Dustin Hoffman, "Little Big Man"; director John Hughes’ "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off"; and Joel and Ethan Coen’s cult classic, "The Big Lebowski."

Read entire article at Library of Congress