“The Oath of the Sword” tells the tragic story of a Japanese husband and wife that spans continents and cultures. 

by Cody Mello-Klein

After years of hiding in plain sight, a restored version of “The Oath of the Sword,” the oldest Asian American film, has been added to the National Film Registry thanks to a Northeastern professor.

Among the Library of Congress’ recent additions to the National Film Registry, the library’s collection of films deemed worth preserving, are the likes of “Inception,” “The Karate Kid,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Incredibles.” But tucked away in that list is a little-known silent film that carries with it a major legacy.

Produced in 1914, “The Oath of the Sword” is the oldest Asian American film on record. Its mere existence reveals a significant gap in cinematic history: The films made by Asian Americans in the silent film era are largely lost to time. And it would have remained hidden if not for Denise Khor.

Khor, a scholar of Asian American cinema, associate professor of Asian American studies and associate director of Asian American studies at Northeastern University, found the 30-minute silent film tucked away in the George Eastman Museum archives. Working with the George Eastman and Japanese American National Museum, Khor brought the film out of the archives and into the spotlight.

“The Oath of the Sword” received a world premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in 2023, but its addition to the National Film Registry is another level of recognition, Khor said.

“Most of those films are the kinds of films that have these huge budgets and they have auteur directors at the helm,” Khor said. “To have it be part of the National Film Registry, which is something that acknowledges American film heritage, it just takes my breath away.”

To read the entire article: https://news.northeastern.edu/2026/02/11/national-film-registry-oath-of-the-sword/

Photo credit: George Eastman Museum and National Film Preservation Foundation