Precious Images

Each year the Library of Congress designates 25 special films for the film registry, and by extension, for preservation. The criteria for inclusion? Works that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. Films selected for 2009 include The Red Book, a lovely, mysterious 11-minute collage animation by LA artist Janie Geiser, which explores Geiser's trademark themes of memory, language and loss. Also selected was Chuck Workman's spectacular eight-minute tour of American cinema made in 1986 and titled Precious Images. Composed of more than 500 clips from classical Hollywood feature films, the short is a testament to the magic of cinema, and to the power of editing as Workman finds ways to craft mini-stories and narrative arcs through juxtaposition. Winsor McCay's contribution to the early history of animation was also selected. Little Nemo borrows from McCay's celebrated and surreal comic strip, and while the film only includes two minutes of actual animation in its total 11 minute run-time, they're wonderful moments, capturing the early excitement of drawings in motion. Filmforum will present eight of the selected films next Sunday night, and Geiser and Workman will be present for a discussion after the screening. (Image: from The Red Book.)