Five Latinx Films Selected for National Film Registry

When it comes to movies featuring us, we are constantly overlooked in what gets produced, what gets acknowledged during award season, and what is ultimately celebrated and recognized for years to come. However, we have been more included in initiatives by the National Film Registry, which annually selects 25 films for permanent preservation in the Library of Congress. This year, a total of five films starring by Latinx talent and featuring prominent Latinx themes were chosen including American Me, Mi Familia, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spy Kids, and Up in Smoke. Of the 900 overall films that have been selected since the 80s, joins 22 other Latinx-led films currently preserved in the Registry, the first of which was inducted in 1931. To have five of our community’s stories chosen is a huge win for Latinx representation in media and entertainment, especially in Hollywood, compared to the one Latinx film that was selected in 2023, ¡Alambrista! from 1977.

Founded in 1988, the National Film Registry is a collection of films that have been chosen for preservation by the United States National Film Preservation Board when they are deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and are at least a decade old. Each year, the Registry welcomes up to 50 nominations from the public, which are then curated down to a final selection of 25. The only criteria is that the films must be at least ten years old and hand-selected by a Library of Congress librarian, members of the National Film Preservation Board, and a committee of film specialists. Latinx films that have been inducted into the collection include Selena, La Bamba, Real Women Have Curves, and West Side Story (1961).

This year is also historic because two of the selected films star Mexican American actor Edward James Olmos, who now has eight films preserved in the registry. American Me is also the first film to be included where he served as director. The list additionally marks Mexican American director Gregory Nava’s third film in the registry with Mi Familia, El Norte, and Selena, as well as the first time Cheech Marin’s work has been included for his roles in Up in Smoke and Spy Kids. Interestingly, the film with the most public support and votes was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which features Mexican-American actor Ricardo Montalbán.

“The level of improv that we brought to those movies is what gave it a spontaneity,” Cheech Marin said in an interview with the Library of Congress. “And that’s why people thought they were happening for the first time. Because in many instances, it was happening for the first time.”

The full list of this year’s National Film Registry picks can be viewed on the organization’s website.