The Library of Congress (USA) has announced its National Film Registry selections for the year 2007. Among the 25 films selected for preservation for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant are experimental classics Marie Menken's Glimpse of the Garden (1957) and Ken Jacobs' Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son (1969-71). Last year's selection included the films Early Abstractions #1-5,7,10 (Harry Smith, 1939-56) and Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania  (Jonas Mekas, 1971-72).

Glimpse of the Garden (1957)
Though Marie Menken’s volatile marriage to Willard Mass served as the inspiration for playwright Edward Albee in his 1962 play, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” her surprisingly joyful and simple films rate among the more accessible works of avant-garde filmmakers. The beautifully lyrical “Glimpse of the Garden” is a serendipitous visual tour of a flower garden set to a soundtrack of bird calls.

Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son (1969-71)
Ken Jacobs’ landmark avant-garde film reverently re-photographs an early cinema short of the fairy tale song to explore the parameters of film art.  A “structuralist film” masterpiece, Jacobs uses techniques ranging from slow and studied examinations of individual paper print images to probing experiments in manipulation of motion and light.