Washington
Other popular works include Dumbo (1941), Superman (1978), The Goonies (1985), Field of Dreams (1989) and Memento (2000). Among this year’s more esoteric fare is The Sinking of the Lusitania, a 1918 short by cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay about the German submarine attack that contributed to the United States’ entry into World War I, and an archive of amateur home movies from the 1920s and ’30s about life in the Mexican-American community of Corpus Christi, Texas.
Hayden selected the films with input from members of the National Film Preservation Board and other specialists at the library. The public also was invited to weigh in.
As timely as it may be to see this honor bestowed on Titanic — now celebrating its 20th anniversary — or Die Hard — a holiday staple — there could be no more opportune selection than 4 Little Girls. Nominated for a best documentary feature Oscar, Spike Lee’s 1997 film about the Birmingham church bombing of Sept. 15, 1963, was met by a reopening of the long-dormant criminal case by the FBI, a case that was subsequently prosecuted, successfully, by an Alabama lawyer named Doug Jones.
On Tuesday, Election Day in Alabama, Lee phoned from New York to say that he always cherishes the National Film Registry honor. (Two of his narrative features were previously selected: Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X.) Lee also said he wanted to dedicate the film’s selection to the murdered girls: Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley.
But mostly, the filmmaker took the opportunity to unleash a torrent of unfiltered invective about Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who was defeated by Jones. After making a few circumspect comments about the power of storytelling to “hold a mirror up to the ugliness that we have become,” Lee acknowledged that he was troubled by what’s happening in America today, epitomized by the Alabama election, before acknowledging that the word “troubled” was probably too mild.