List
Oscar Nominees 2024: From the Pages to the Screen
Many of the 2024 Oscar nominees have been adapted from books. Take a look at these books if you would like to familiarize yourself with the original source material or learn more about a topic or person related to the nominated films.
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Erasure
2001 by Everett, Percival L.Get this itemA searing satirical look at race relations and the publishing industry. American Fiction, nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score, was adapted from this book.
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The Zone of Interest
2014 by Amis, MartinGet this itemA critically acclaimed, character-driven, and thought-provoking historical fiction novel that examines the horrors of the Holocaust from the perspectives of its perpetrators and their enablers. Can love survive against the backdrop of a Nazi concentration camp? The Zone of Interest, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Sound, and International Feature, was adapted from this book.
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Killers of the Flower Moon
2017 by Grann, DavidGet this itemAn eye-opening and compelling true crime read that uncovers a string of unsolved murders that targeted the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma when oil was discovered on their land. These murders were so appalling, the newly formed FBI was brought in to investigate. Adapted from this book, Killers of the Flower Moon was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Production Design, Costume Design, Cinematography, Editing, Original Score, and Original Song.
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Find a Way
2015 by Nyad, DianaGet this itemIn her inspiring memoir, Diana Nyad chronicles her life as a marathon swimmer and one of her greatest achievements: completing a 110-mile, 53-hour, record-breaking swim through shark-infested waters from Cuba to Florida. Nyad, nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, was adapted from this book.
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American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
2005 by Bird, KaiGet this itemThis critically acclaimed scientific biography of the father of the atomic bomb covers the lesser-known aspects of the scientist before and after his involvement in making the bomb at Los Alamos. Adapted from this book, Oppenheimer; was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Costume Design, Cinematography, Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Original Score.
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The Color Purple
1992 by Walker, AliceGet this itemWinner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1983 and now hailed as a modern classic, Walker's novel tells the story of two sisters, Nettie and Celie, through a series of letters that are exchanged for over thirty years. The Color Purple (2023), nominated for Best Supporting Actress, was adapted from this book.
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Nimona
2015 by Stevenson, NoelleGet this itemThis cheeky, humorous, and smart fantasy graphic novel cleverly mashes medieval culture with modern science and technology and features a main character named Nimona who is a brash, spunky young shapeshifter. She wants nothing more than destruction, chaos, and mayhem, but she is constantly frustrated when she has to reel in her anger. Nimona, nominated for Animated Feature, was adapted from this book.
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How Do You Live?
2021 by Yoshino, GenzaburōGet this itemThis book served as the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron. The novel is referenced in the movie (and the literal translation of the movie title in Japanese, Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka ). Miyazaki uses the book as a launching pad to create his own story that also incorporates some autobiographical details. The Boy and the Heron was nominated for Animated Feature.
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Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin
2003 by D'Emilio, JohnGet this itemIf you would like to learn more about the unsung hero and the mastermind behind the 1963 March on Washington, pick up this probing biography that examines the life and struggles of Bayard Rustin. The movie Rustin was nominated for Best Actor.
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I Had to Survive
2016 by Canessa, RobertoGet this itemDr. Roberto Canessa is one of the survivors of the infamous 1972 plane crash in the Andes that inspired the films Alive and The Society of Snow. In his memoir, he offers a gripping and heartrending recollection of the harrowing brink-of-death experience that later propelled him to become one of the world’s leading pediatric cardiologists. The movie, nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, was adapted from The Society of Snow; by Pablo Vierci, who is also the coauthor of this memoir.
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Poor Things
2023 by Gray, AlasdairGet this itemA darkly humorous and poignant satire of Victorian England, this is an epistolary novel that recounts the lives of two doctors who become hopelessly entangled with a woman who was created by one of them. The film based on the book was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Costume Design, Cinematography, Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Original Score.
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The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing
2021 by Faleiro, SoniaGet this itemWhile the documentary To Kill a Tiger is still seeking U.S. distribution at the moment, you can pick up this true crime readalike that explores similar themes such as sexual assault, the justice system, caste, and women's rights in India. To Kill a Tiger was nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film.
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The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie
2010 by Stone, Tanya LeeGet this itemSome critics believe the film Barbie fell a bit short in its commentary on consumerism and the doll's impact on society. This cultural-history-as-biography of Barbie offers an accessible and extensively researched survey of the iconic doll from its inventor, Ruth Handler, to its affect on materialism, body image, portrayals of ethnicity, nudity, taboo, and art. Barbie was nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Costume Design, Best Original Song (2 songs were nominated), Production Design, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
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Leonard Bernstein: An American Musician
2014 by Shawn, AllenGet this itemThe film Maestro centers on the complex relationship between conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein and actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. This engaging and richly detailed biography offers a rounded and fresh appreciation of the great musical figure. Maestro was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Cinematography, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Original Screenplay.
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Napoleon: A Life
2015 by Roberts, AndrewGet this itemMany film and historical critics have questioned the historical accuracy of Ridley Scott's historical epic biopic Napoleon. Historian Andrew Roberts offers a voluminous biography on the Corsican general's early life and traces the details of his military campaigns. It also dispels many of the myths that surrounded Napoleon from his lifetime to the present day. The film was nominated for Best Visual Effects.
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