'Ghostbusters,' 'Shawshank Redemption' added to National Film Registry

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Ghostbusters, Top Gun and L.A. Confidential are among the 25 movies added this year to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

The announcement was made Wednesday by Acting Librarian of Congress David Mao.

"Selecting a film for the National Film Registry recognizes its importance to cinema and America's cultural and artistic history," Mao said in a statement. "The registry is an invaluable way to advance public awareness of the richness, creativity and variety of our nation's film heritage."

Movies are chosen for inclusion on the registry because they are deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. They must be at least 10 years old.

"The National Film Preservation Board focused much of its attention this year on the recognition of photochemical film as a distinct medium. Emerging digital technologies offer many alternative opportunities, but the board encourages the preservation of film on film. Film remains the best existing archival medium and the board encourages archives and rights-holders to continue to preserve titles on film as they have done in the past," the board noted.

Films selected for the 2015 National Film Registry

Being There (1979)
Black and Tan (1929)
Dracula (Spanish-language version) (1931)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (1975)
Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)
A Fool There Was (1915)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
Humoresque (1920)
Imitation of Life (1959)
The Inner World of Aphasia (1968)
John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
The Old Mill (1937)
Our Daily Bread (1934)
Portrait of Jason (1967)
Seconds (1966)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Sink or Swim (1990)
The Story of Menstruation (1946)
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
Top Gun (1986)
Winchester '73 (1950)