From Disgrace to cinema success

The film version of a Booker prize-winning novel written by J.M. Coetzee is receiving praise from critics around the world.

Set in post-apartheid South Africa, Disgrace sees Professor David Lurie's life fall apart after he has an impulsive affair with one of his students. When he's forced to resign from his university, he escapes to his daughter's farm. Their relationship is tested when they both become victims of a vicious attack.

Disgrace, published in 1999, is one of Professor Coetzee's two Booker prize-winning novels. A Visiting Professor of Humanities at the University of Adelaide, Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2003.

The film has been adapted by screenwriter Anna Maria-Monticelli and director Steve Jacobs. It stars John Malkovich and Jessica Haines.

Disgrace won the International Critics' Award at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and is currently showing at Australian cinemas.