Photos show as edited versions, but when dragged into the slideshow, revert back to an unedited version that isn't even visible.

Brand new MBP with the M2 Pro chip and the upgraded processors that's supposed to be great for people who do professional level video editing. That is not me. I am trying to make a simple slideshow in iMovie same as I have in the past on a much less powerful MBP. iMovie has frozen and crashed at least 16 times, I've reported it over and over.

When I look at Libraries >>> Photos >>> My Albums >>> All My Albums (which are albums populated from iCloud) >>> Album X, I see all of my photos. I have spent hours/days editing hundreds of photos and videos on my iPhone, added them to Album X, waited for it to sync to iCloud, and now it shows up in iMovie.

If I try to select all 371 pieces of media and drag them down, iMovie crashes. So I have to drag them down 10-20 at a time. Great. I've done that and all 371 pieces of media are in the slideshow. When I click on an image, I see the edited picture up on My Albums. But when it's dragged down to the slideshow, it reverts back to an unedited, original version that is not visible ANYWHERE.

I am not using the Photos app and exporting, where there is an option to export unedited originals. I am doing everything in iMovie where there is no such option, and unedited originals ARE NOT DISPLAYED until you drag the item into the slideshow.