The Book of Negroes to be Made into a Film

Lawrence Hill’s Canadian Masterpiece to Hit Big Screen

Aug 27, 2009

Historical novel, The Book of Negroes, by Canadian author Lawrence Hill will be made into a movie by Conquering Lion Pictures.

Lawrence Hill’s breakthrough novel, The Book of Negroes will hit the big screen, according to The Globe and Mail.

Through a chance run in at a Toronto bookstore, Hill’s book was recognised by international film director Clement Virgo. Virgo admitted that he “couldn’t put [the book] down” and is now considering the film rights to the best selling Canadian book.

Virgo and Hill

Hill’s The Book of Negroes, which was published as Someone Knows my Name in the United States, New Zealand and Australia has quickly become an international best seller. The novel has won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, Canada Reads 2009 and the Rogers Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize. It was also long listed for the Giller Prize. Ontarian Hill has also written several other fiction and nonfiction novels including Some Great Things, Any Known Blood, Black Berry, Sweet Juice and The Deserter’s Tale.

Virgo, of Conquering Lion Pictures is the director of films such as Poor Boy’s Game and Lie with Me. He has also directed episodes for acclaimed television series The L Word, Regenesis and The Listener. Virgo recently admitted that The Book of Negroes is a big step in his film career but believes it’s an “opportune moment to take this wonderful book to the screen.”

Although no details have been released on the making of the film, there is plenty of buzz about who will play the leading character, Aminata Diallo and where the film will be shot. Virgo hopes to secure the financing and start making arrangements for the film during his upcoming meetings at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

The Book of Negroes follows the beautifully crafted story of Aminata from her African village to colonial North America and Europe and back to Africa. The epic narrative features a powerful character who consistently struggles against her surroundings to gain her freedom. Her tale starts when she is an 11-year-old girl, snatched from her West African village and forced to cross to South Carolina as a slave. Her journey continues through the American Revolutionary War to her resettlement in Canada, and eventually on to Europe and Africa. The story is a detailed and historical account of what was endured by the Nova Scotia Black Loyalists both before and after the Revolutionary War.

The novel is poignant, touching and heart breaking and has received excellent international reviews. The Book of Negroes has sold over 300,000 copies in Canada alone since its release by Harper Collins Canada in 2007. It has been hailed as one of the best Canadian historical novels ever released and paints a horrifying yet riveting picture of slavery in colonial America.

The copyright of the article The Book of Negroes to be Made into a Film in Canadian Fiction is owned by Jenna Galley. Permission to republish The Book of Negroes to be Made into a Film in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.