WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, a Maine documentary became the little film that could.

When the 25 new entries to the National Film Registry were announced on that day, “From Stump to Ship” found itself alongside such well-known Hollywood films as “Alien,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “From Here to Eternity,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “This is Spinal Tap.”

It becomes the first film from northern New England, the first depiction of work life and one of a handful of films shot by an amateur to make the directory.

“This is like making the Hall of Fame,” explained David Weiss, executive of Northeast Historic Film in Bucksport, which has done preservation work on and distributed copies of the film. “It’s kind of neat to go in.”

“From Stump to Ship,” the original copy of which resides in Special Collections at the University of Maine’s Fogler Library, started simply. It was shot in 1930, when owner Alfred Ames documented the day-to-day activities of his Maine lumber company with a 16 mm camera.

But it became something more. James H. Billington, congressional librarian, called it “a once-forgotten 1930 logging film which has become a touchstone of cultural identity for Maine residents.”

Weiss amplified that thought, adding “it really got adopted by a wide variety of people who could connect to it in a number of ways.”

In announcing the films chosen, Billington said, “The selection of a film, I stress, is not an endorsement of its ideology or content, but rather a recognition of the film’s importance in American film and cultural history and history in general.”

That’s one reason that alongside the Hollywood classics, other, smaller films are picked. Beside “From Stump to Ship,” also chosen were “All My Babies,” a 1953 film made to educate midwives in the South; and “Through Navajo Eyes,” a 1966 series of documentaries on an Indian tribe.

The journey of “From Stump to Ship” from Maine prominence to national posterity began in October, when a board member showed the film at a National Film Preservation Board meeting.

“Everyone really liked it,” recalled Steve Leggett, staff coordinator for the board.

In addition to seeking a broad spectrum of films for inclusion, and a film’s merit, other factors enter into being selected for the registry.

In the local film’s case, it’s “a very good example of how an archive can take an item in its collection, market it well and get it out to everyone,” Leggett said.

Also, the regional archives play a large role in the overall national film preservation plan, and selection of one of an archive’s films can be beneficial to it.

“We pick two or three of these types of films each year,” Leggett said. “It increases their visibility, and can help them out with fund raising as well.”

The main reason for the registry is to ensure that the now 350 films on it are preserved for all time, Billington said.

He added that half the movies produced before 1950 and between 80 and 90 percent of those dating before 1920 have been lost to chemical deterioration.