HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW
Films based on books?
Let MTF put you to the test!
It’s one thing to know your films, but it’s quite another to know about the films that were based on books. Can you name these movies?
Based on the 2005 novel written by Nigerian-American author Uzodinma Iweala, the film follows a child solider who is forced to join a group of guerrilla soldiers led by a warlord played by English actor Idris Elba.
Written by Vikas Swarup, the novel Q&A tells the rags to riches story of a young waiter that wins India’s biggest quiz show, and what unravels thereafter. After its adaptation, in 2009 it became a multi Oscar-winning film starring English actor Dev Patel. What is the name of the film?
In this tale of love and loss written by acclaimed author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, two sisters are caught up in the Biafran War. The 2013 film was directed by Nigeria’s Biyi Bandele and based by the novel of the same name.
In this film, based off the bestselling novel written by Malawian author William Kamkwamba, English actor Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the father of a boy who builds an electricity producing windmill made of scrap material to power his family’s house in Wimbe, Malawi.
"Florals? For Spring? Groundbreaking.”
If you know fashion, then you know this line from the iconic character Miranda Priestly, played by American actress Meryl Streep. The novel-turned-film by the same name details the life of an assistant working for New York’s biggest and ruthless magazine editor.
If you know fashion, then you know this line from the iconic character Miranda Priestly, played by American actress Meryl Streep. The novel-turned-film by the same name details the life of an assistant working for New York’s biggest and ruthless magazine editor.
Based on Alan Paton's classic 1948 novel set in South Africa, the film, follows the story of an Anglican clergyman in 1946 in a rural Zulu village who has to travel to Johannesburg to help his sister and find his estranged son.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by American novelist and activist Alice Walker, this powerful 1985 drama stars Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover. Set in in the years 1909 through 1949, it details the lives of black women in the South and the difficultly-layered lives they live.
In 2018, it was announced that acclaimed Kenyan author Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s 1987 novel would be adapted by Nollywood director Kunle Afolayan. The short film, which was premiered in 2020, is based on the original story of a freedom fighter who emerges from the forest in post-independent Kenya. What’s the name of the film?
This 2012 film about Ugandan chess player Phiona Mutesi was based on a 2010 documentary of her life, but also on a 2012 novel by American author Tim Crothers. Mutesi’s extraordinary story was embodied by actress Madina Nalwanga, her mother played by Lupita Nyong'o and her chess coach played by David Oyelowo. What’s the name of the film?