On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

"Shula" (Susan Chardy) is returning from a fancy dress party late one evening when she encounters a corpse on the road. A quick investigation reveals the body as that of her "Uncle Fred". She doesn't appear terribly upset at the news and neither does her partying father when she calls to tell him! Her evening doesn't get any better with the arrival of her drunken cousin "Nsansa" (Elizabeth Chisela) and when the police tell her they don't have enough vehicles to come and deal with it til the morning, she has to sleep in her car. What follows now sees us immersed in some of the rituals and traditions of a Zambian funeral, with grief - real and not so real - presented in a semi-comedic mix of ancient and modern behaviour. What also become clea...

A pertinent fact about the little-known African bird known as the guinea fowl is that they have a unique, loud call that can be heard at quite a range, not only amongst their own kind, but also among all of the other animals within earshot. That can prove quite valuable both for the members of their own flock and for all other nearby vulnerable creatures when predators approach. While that may sound like useless trivia to some, its a highly relevant metaphorical observation about the underlying narrative in this third feature effort from Zambian writer-director Rungano Nyoni. While driving home from a dinner party late at night on a remote rural highway, Shula (Susan Chardy) comes upon the dead body of her Uncle Fred (Roy Chisha) splayed ou...