Some of the world’s most powerful stories honored by the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards have leapt from the page to the screen. With over 262 prizes awarded since 1935, over 15 of these exceptional works have been adapted for the screen!
Here are a few titles you might recognize:
Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly (AWBA 2017)
Set in the 1950s and 1960s, the 2016 movie follows the true story of three African American women (played by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe) who worked for NASA as ‘human computers’ at the Langley Research Centre.
Available to Stream on Prime and HBO Max
Far From the Tree, Andrew Solomon (AWBA 2013)
The 2017 documentary considers how children and their families cope with deafness, autism, dwarfism, and several other identities that challenge society’s definition of ‘normal.’
Available to Stream on AMC+
The Yellow Birds, Kevin Powers (AWBA 2013)
The 2017 movie, The Yellow Birds, starring Alden Ehrenreich, Tye Sheridan, and Jennifer Aniston, pivots on the last weeks of friendship between 18-year-old Private Daniel Murphy and 21-year-old Private John Bartle, who makes a rash promise to Mrs. Murphy to bring her son home safely from Iraq.
Available to Stream on Prime
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Moshin Hamid (AWBA 2008)
“The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” a 2012 movie based on Hamid’s novel, follows a young Pakistani man whose American dream unravels in the wake of 9/11, forcing him to confront questions of identity and belonging. The film stars Riz Ahmed alongside Kate Hudson and Kiefer Sutherland.
Available to stream on Apple TV ($3.99) and Prime ($4.99)
Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (AWBA 2007)
The 2013 film centers on the lives of two sisters raised in privilege, Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) and Olanna (Thandie Newton). We meet them on the cusp of the civil war and follow shifts in the complex relationships the sisters share with one another, their lovers, and, ultimately, their sense of nation.
Available to Stream on Prime
The Emperor of Ocean Park, Stephen L. Carter (AWBA 2003)
The Emperor of Ocean Park is a 2024 television series based on Stephen L. Carter’s 2003 novel of the same name. Starring Forest Whitaker, Tiffany Mack, Grantham Coleman, and Paulina Bugembe, the show follows Talcott Garland, whose tranquil existence is upended by the death of his father. Mariah Denton, a former journalist and ardent conspiracy theorist, questions the manner of his death and thinks he was the victim of foul play.
Available to Stream on Apple TV
Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner, F.X. Toole (AWBA 2001)
2004’s Oscar Award Winning, Million Dollar Baby starring Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood is based on a short story from Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner. The film follows Margaret “Maggie” Fitzgerald (Swank), an underdog amateur boxer who is helped by an underappreciated boxing trainer (Eastwood) to achieve her dream of becoming a professional.
Available to Stream on Prime ($5.99)
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, Walter Mosley (AWBA 1998)
The 1998 movie of the same name starring Laurence Fishburne, Natalie Cole, Laurie Metcalf, Bill Cobbs, and Cicely Tyson, follows a former prisoner as he tries to save a neighborhood child from following him down the wrong path.
Beloved, Toni Morrison (AWBA 1988)
“Beloved,” released in 1998, is the film adaptation of Morrison’s AWBA and Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover and Thandiwe Newton, the story follows a mother who is haunted by her enslaved past.
Available to Stream on Prime ($3.99) and Apple TV ($3.99)
Ake, Wole Soyinka (AWBA 1983)
Ake, Wole Soyinka’s memoir was the inspiration for the 2014 film starring prominent Nigerian film and theater actors.
Not available to watch in the US
Simple Justice, Richard Kluger (AWBA 1977)
Simple Justice is the definitive history of the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education and the epic struggle for racial equality in this country. The 1993 movie starring Giancarlo Esposito, James Avery, Andrew Braugher, and Peter Francis James, explores this case in its entirety.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X (AWBA 1966)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965) sold more than five million copies and changed the nation’s opinion of the black nationalist leader. This Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Winning biography was the inspiration for the 1992 Spike Lee movie, Malcolm X, starring Denzel Washington.
Available to Stream on Prime ($4.99) and Apple TV ($4.99)
A Many Splendored Thing, Han Suyin (AWBA 1953)
A Many-Splendored Thing (1952) describes Han Suyin’s tragic love affair with a British newspaper correspondent in the context of military and social conflict and also explores problems of bicultural parentage. This book served as the inspiration for the 1955 film, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing.
Available to Stream on Prime ($3.79) and Apple TV ($3.99)
The Wall, Alfred A. Knopf (AWBA 1951)
Alfred A. Knopf’s, The Wall, is the story of the Warsaw ghetto from November 1939 to May 1943 told by means of a fictional diary kept by Noach Levinson, self-appointed archivist. This book inspired the 1982 film starring Tom Conti.
Not available to watch in the US
Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton (AWBA 1949)
Alan Paton’s award-winning book follows a Zulu priest who travels to Johannesburg from the countryside in search of his sister and his son. In 1995, a movie adaptation starring James Earl Jones and Richard Harris brought this work to live on the big screen.
Available to Stream on Prime ($3.99) and Apple TV ($3.99)
