Four Oscar nominations went to this moving drama about a family of Louisiana sharecroppers facing hardships during the Depression. The story concerns Nathan Lee Morgan (Paul Winfield), a black man sent to a prison camp for committing a petty crime. When his wife Rebecca (Cicely Tyson) sends their young son (Kevin Hooks) to visit him, the boy’s journey becomes a life changing rite of passage. Critic Roger Ebert praised Sounder, calling it “a film for the family to see.”

Director: Martin Ritt
Writers: Lonne Elder III, William H. Armstrong
Starring: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks