Harvey Milk Doc Named to National Film Registry

The Times of Harvey Milk, the Oscar-winning 1984 documentary about the martyred gay politician, is among the 25 films designated this year for preservation by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

Rob Epstein’s film won the Academy Award as Best Documentary. Other gay-relevant films selected this year include Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella with Audrey Hepburn starring, and the 1950 Judy Holliday comedy Born Yesterday, directed by George Cukor.

“The Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Va., will work to make sure that each title is preserved for future generations either through its own preservation program or through collaborative efforts with other archives, movie studios and independent filmmakers,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“These films are not selected as the best American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture,” Librarian of Congress James M. Billington said in a statement released this morning. “They reflect who we are as a people and as a nation.”

The registry chooses 25 films each year. This year’s group brings the total to 600.