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People en Español: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Nominates 25 Latino Films for National Film Registry

June 29, 2022

On Tuesday, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus nominated 25 Latino films for inclusion in the National Film Registry to continue fighting against Latino underrepresentation in Hollywood.

"The National Film Registry's very existence speaks to the importance of film in American culture and society," Representatives Raul Ruiz and Joaquin Castro said in a letter to Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. "Hollywood is the main image-defining and narrative-producing industry in the United States. As you know, Latinos remain dramatically underrepresented in this influential industry, contributing to the misperceptions and stereotypes about Latinos in our society."

Some of the films nominated were Julie Taymor's 2002 biopic Frida, starring Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo; Edward James Olmos's 2006 film Walkout, starring Michael Peña and Alexa Vega; the 1989 film Romero, with the late actor Raúl Juliá; María Ripoll's 2001 film Tortilla Soup; and Robert Rodriguez's 2001 film Spy Kids.

The new list of nominations comes after Castro nominated Gregory Nava's 1997 movie Selena in January, saying that adding the film to the registry is necessary in order to honor the impact Selena Quintanilla has had in the Latino community.

"Selena is an American icon and she's so celebrated within the Latino community," Castro, who is also the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, told NBC News. "I think part of the affirmation of that was, not only the success of the film, but also the recent success of the television series."

The film, which helped launch the career of Jennifer Lopez, portrays the life, rise, and tragic death of the Queen of Tex-Mex, Selena Quintanilla, who in 1995 was murdered by the president of her fan club.