U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), a champion for Latino representation in media, is asking for recommendations for Latino-centered films that should be in the National Film Registry.
Why it matters: Castro’s years-long push to get more Latino works of art recognized in the registry highlights the massive gap in representation in Hollywood.
Catch up quick: Each year, the Library of Congress takes public nominations for registries for music and film and selects 25 entries in each category. Submissions that are approved are maintained in the registries for their significant contributions to American culture.
- Less than 5% of the 875 works in the film registry are Latino-driven stories, according to Castro’s office. Latinos account for about 19% of the U.S. population.
- Nominations for movies that are at least 10 years old can be made through Castro’s office through July 23 or directly through the Library of Congress through Aug. 15.
Zoom in: Although Latinos are dominating in mainstream music, they’re in many ways missing from film, according to several reports on diversity in Hollywood.
- Last year, Castro’s office received over 700 suggestions for the national recording registry and about 500 for the film registry.
What they’re saying: “I think part of the challenge is that the film industry has been a lot more closed over the years to Latinos than the music industry,” Castro tells Axios Latino.
- Castro says it’s important that movies like “Selena,” which was added to the film registry in 2021, are recognized for their contributions to American culture.
- “It’s particularly important because Latinos and immigrants have become further demonized in the last few years, and part of that I think is because our community has been defined by stereotypes rather than accurate depictions of our community’s contributions to the country, including cultural contributions.”
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