On December 17, the Library of Congress (LC) announced the latest batch of films being added to the National Film Registry. Twenty-five films are added to the registry each year in recognition of their cultural, historic, or aesthetic importance and to raise awareness for film preservation.
The 2024 selections date back nearly 130 years and include a diverse group of films, filmmakers, and Hollywood landmarks. The selections span from a silent film created to entice audiences at the dawn of cinema in 1895 to the newest selected film from 2010, a drama about social media.
“Films reflect our nation’s history and culture and must be preserved in our national library for generations to come. We’re honored by the responsibility to add 25 diverse new films to the National Film Registry each year as we work to preserve our cultural heritage,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “This is a collective effort in the film community to preserve our cinematic heritage, and we are grateful to our partners, including the National Film Preservation Board.”
LC reported that several titles selected this year received strong public support, including: “No Country for Old Men,” “The Social Network,” and “Dirty Dancing.” Other popular Hollywood releases selected this year include the first Star Trek film added to the registry, “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” as well as Eddie Murphy’s first feature film on the registry, “Beverly Hills Cop.” The registry also added the several horror favorites, including the vampire film, “Ganga and Hess,” starring Duane Jones from “Night of the Living Dead” fame, and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” The art world was represented by the selection of Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey’s cult classic, “The Chelsea Girls.”
Here’s the full list of films inducted into the registry this year, in chronological order. Happy viewing.
- “Annabelle Serpentine Dance” (1895)
- “KoKo’s Earth Control” (1928)
- “Angels with Dirty Faces” (1938)
- “Pride of the Yankees” (1942)
- “Invaders from Mars” (1953)
- “The Miracle Worker” (1962)
- “The Chelsea Girls” (1966)
- “Ganja and Hess” (1973)
- “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974)
- “Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
- “Zora Lathan Student Films” (1975-76)
- “Up in Smoke” (1978)
- “Will” (1981)
- “Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan” (1982)
- “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984)
- “Dirty Dancing” (1987)
- “Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt” (1989)
- “Powwow Highway” (1989)
- “My Own Private Idaho” (1991)
- “American Me” (1992)
- “Mi Familia” (1995)
- “Compensation” (1999)
- “Spy Kids” (2001)
- “No Country for Old Men” (2007)
- “The Social Network (2010
More than 6,700 titles were submitted to LC for consideration this year. Nominations for next year will be accepted until August 15, 2025. Cast your vote at loc.gov/film.
Join the conversation
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden will join Turner Classic Movies (TCM) host and film historian Jacqueline Stewart, who is chair of the National Film Preservation Board, on TCM, Wednesday, December 18, at 8 p.m. ET., to discuss and screen select films added to the registry this year. Stewart led the board in studying and recommending films across a variety of genres and eras to be considered for the registry.
“The National Film Registry now includes 900 titles, and what's remarkable to me is that every year when the board talks about films and their significance, we find new titles to consider. The wealth of American film history is sometimes rather overwhelming, and people often wonder: How do you recommend this film or that film?” Stewart said. “It's through a lot of research, conversation and discussion, and it's through a commitment to showing the true diversity of filmmaking. I'm thrilled that we recognize student films and independent films, animation, documentary and experimental works, as well as feature length narrative drama, comedy, horror and science fiction on the registry this year.”
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