On December 30, the United States Library of Congress announced that Precious Images, the DGA-commissioned 1986 film by director Chuck Workman, would be among the 25 films selected in 2009 to be added to the to the National Film Registry where it will be preserved as a cultural, artistic and historic treasure for generations to come.
"Chuck Workman's legendary compilation film is also a dazzling celebration of the first near-century of American cinema," the announcement said. "The pioneer of rapid-fire film history montages, Precious Images contains in the space of seven short minutes nearly 500 clips from classic films spanning the years 1903-1985. It became the most influential and widely shown short film in history." Precious Images went on to win the 1987 Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action.
"Precious Images was one of those movies that go far beyond the expectations of the filmmakers involved, but I had the greatest dailies ever shot to work with," said Workman. "The idea, which came from a committee chaired by DGA Special Projects Committee founder Robert Wise and DGA President Gil Cates, was simply to honor directors for the 50th Anniversary of the Guild and I got tremendous support as we put it together. But I had only about 400 seconds for about 500 films, so the speed of the cutting came from a strong desire to get everything in, and the style of it came from looking for the combinations and sequences that would accommodate all those cuts. I updated the film a few years later and I still get weekly requests."
The National Film Preservation Act calls for the Librarian of Congress to annually name 25 films to the registry that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant to be preserved for all time. With the inclusion of this year's selections, the total number of films in the National Film Registry is 525. "Established by Congress in 1989, the National Film Registry spotlights the importance of protecting America's matchless film heritage and cinematic creativity," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "By preserving the nation's films, we safeguard a significant element of our cultural patrimony and history."
