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National Film Registry

Selection of films for preservation in the US Library of Congress

  • 14 min read
  • 6 chapters

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History

Throughout the 1980s, several prominent filmmakers and industry personalities in the United States, such as Frank Capra and Martin Scorsese, advocated for Congress to enact a film preservation bill in order to avoid commercial modifications (such as pan and scan and editing for television) of classic films, which they saw as negative. In response to the controversy over the colorization of originally black and white films in the decade specifically, Representatives Robert J. Mrazek and Sidney R. Yates introduced the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, which established the National Film Registry, its purpose, and the criteria for selecting films for preservation. The Act was passed and the NFR's mission was subsequently reauthorized by further acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, 2008 and 2016. The National Film Preservation Board's mission, to which the NFR contributes, is to ensure the survival, conservation, and increased public availability of America's film heritage. The 1996 law also created the non-profit National Film Preservation Foundation which, although affiliated with the NFPB, raises money from the private sector. Inductees are announced in the final quarter of the year, usually in mid-to-late December. The only year where this deadline was missed was 2025, due to the 2025 US federal government shutdown, with that year's selections being officially announced on January 29, 2026.

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