In 2003, ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney (1997) produced a new TV version of Sounder (2003). Kevin Hooks directed, and Paul Winfield played the teacher. (It was one of Winfield's last roles before his death in 2004.)
The first film to feature Oscar-nominated performances by two black actors with Paul Winfield nominated for Best Actor and Cicely Tyson for Best Actress. This feat wouldn't be achieved again until What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) 21 years later. The third film to achieve this was Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) 27 years later.
In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
With this film, Lonne Elder III became the first African-American and person of color to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Elder is also the first African-American and person of color to be nominated for screenwriting in general, along with Suzanne De Passe nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Lady Sings the Blues (1972) the same year.