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We often talk about the importance of seeing some of our favourite African novels come alive on the screen. Some of these novels have indeed been adapted into popular movies in recent years, such as Ẹlẹṣin Ọba: The King’s Horseman (directed by Nigerian filmmaker Biyi Bandele) and Beasts of No Nation (directed by American filmmaker Cary Joji Fukunaga). But there are others which have been less popularly adapted to the screen.
In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of five books your probably didn’t know were made into movies. From a celebrated Nigerian novel produced by Netflix to a classic pre-apartheid South African novel starring renowned American actor James Earl Jones, the books on this list prove that African novels can make for intriguing movies too!
Read our recommendations below.
swallow
author: sefi atta
Genre: fiction
In 2021, renowned Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan released his film adaptation of Nigerian author Sefi Atta’s novel Swallow. Produced by Netflix with a screenplay co-written by Atta herself, the film stars popular actors Nollywood actors such as Chioma Chukwuka Akpotha and Deyemi Okanlawon, with singer and songwriter Niyola in the lead role.
Set in 1980s Lagos during Nigeria’s military era and the government’s War Against Indiscipline, Swallow follows two bank clerks and roommates, Tolani and Rose, who struggle to survive in an economically challenging environment. Though from separate backgrounds, both women share a determination not to be crushed by societal pressures. When Rose loses her job after confronting her boss for sexual harassment, she sinks into financial crisis, which forces her to explore drug trafficking as a means of survival. Rose eventually persuades Tolani to explore drug trafficking, a decision that almost proves fatal for the cautious Tolani.
disgrace
AUTHOR: j. m. coetzee
GENRE: fiction
Australian actor and filmmaker Steve Jacobs directed the 2008 adaptation of South African Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee’s widely acclaimed novel, Disgrace.
Originally published in 1999 and set in post-apartheid South Africa, Disgrace follows David Lurie, a twice-divorced, 52-year-old professor of communications and Romantic Poetry at Cape Technical University. An intellectual snob and incorrigible womanizer, David begins an inappropriate sexual relationship with Melanie, a young Black student in his class.
The affair is eventually discovered, forcing David to face a disciplinary hearing. But he refuses to show genuine remorse, instead resigning from his role and traveling to the rural Eastern Cape to live with his daughter Lucy, who runs a smallholding and dog kennel. Their quiet life is shattered when three Black men attack the property, raping Lucy and setting David on fire.
i do not come to you by chance
authOR: adaobi tricia nwaubani
GENRE: fiction
In 2023, Nigerian filmmaker Ishaya Bako directed a film adaptation of Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s multiple-award-winning novel, I Do Not Come to You by Chance.
Nwaubani’s debut, I Do Not Come to You by Chance was published in 2009 and set largely in the Nigerian world of email scamming. The story follows Kingsley Ibe, a newly graduated chemical engineer from a respectable middle-class Igbo family who struggles to find employment despite his excellent qualifications.
When a family crisis leads to severe financial difficulties for the Ibes, Kingsley, still unable to find a job, reluctantly turns to his estranged uncle Boniface, known as ‘Cash Daddy.’ Boniface is a successful email scammer. Despite his initial hesitations, Kingsley is eventually drawn into the lucrative but morally compromising world of internet scamming.
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cry, the beloved country
AUTHOR: alan paton
GENRE: fiction
South African author Alan Paton’s classic, Cry, the Beloved Country, served as the raw material for the 1995 film of the same title directed by South African film director Darrell Roodt. He starred renowned actors like the American James Earl Jones and the Irish Richard Harris.
Set in pre-apartheid South Africa, the story follows Stephen Kumalo, a black Anglican priest, who travels from his rural village to Johannesburg in search of his son Absalom. On getting to the big city, he discovers that his son has been accused of murdering a white man name Arthur Jarvis, the son of a wealthy white farmer, James Jarvis.
James is initially prejudiced against Black South African, but as the story progress, his views change significantly, and he is able to bond with Stephen as both fathers confront the devastating effects of South Africa’s racial policies on their families and communities.
kongi’s harvest
Author: wole soyinka
Genre: drama
If you have ever wondered why Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka is fondly called Kongi, here’s your answer. In 1970, he starred in the lead role a film adaptation of his 1967 play, Kongi’s Harvest, directed by American filmmaker Ossie Davies.
Set in a fictional post-independence African country, Kongi’s Harvest is a biting political satire that examines the clash between traditional authority and modern dictatorship. The play centres on President Kongi, a dictator who has seized power in a country called Isma, after deposing the traditional ruler, Oba Danlola, who is now held in detention with his advisors and wives.
We follow Kongi as he tries to legitimize his authority by presiding over the Festival of the New Yam, a spiritual privilege traditionally reserved for the king. His plan is to have Oba Danlola present him with a ceremonial yam at a state dinner, a move that would symbolize Danlola’s transfer of traditional authority to the new regime. But Kongi’s plans fall apart when he is presented instead with a severed head⎈
