On Becoming A Guinea Fowl

ZAMBIA, 2024.

Available on streaming platforms. 

Director Rungano Nyoni follows up her 2017 debut film I Am Not A Witch with an intriguing drama that has a touch of comedy and a hint of magic. 

On Becoming A Guinea Fowl is the story of a young woman named Shula (Susan Chardy). While driving home from a party one night, she sees the dead body of her uncle lying on the roadside. In this instance as in most others, the drama remains offscreen. Shula stays aloof, as does the film itself. A wave of humour is brought in by Shula’s cousin Nsansa (Elizabeth Chisela), who joins her at the scene. Their reactions to the incident suggest that there’s more than meets the eye. 

All the women of the family gather under one roof and the funeral rituals begin. The mourning scenario is characterised by chaotic dynamics where hierarchies become apparent and resentments arise. Shula’s story begins to unravel through the unsaid and the implied. Her cousins and aunties all play a part in the family drama. As their tales overlap, a tableau of female resilience begins to form, giving a real sense of the weight that each one of them silently carries. 

There’s a stark divide between what is actually moral and just, and the upkeep of traditions designed to make a family appear moral and just, but that effectually hide the very opposite behaviours and intents. The protagonist navigates the enormous gap between appearances and truth with as much grace as she can, but her silences become heavier and heavier until the need to speak up becomes pressing. 

This is a film of great value in that it places social protest in the foreground. It begins powerfully, introducing its surreal tone from the start and making it known that it means to be unconventional. The central part of the story is more realistic and helps one catch the subtleties, but there is a slackening in the drama caused by a lack of clear direction and the absence of an immediate threat. The psychological struggle takes centre stage, and finally the climax acts as a drop that will likely make ripples in the community. 

The elements of magic realism make the story fable-like and attenuate the crude reality of trauma. The titular guinea fowl acts as a symbol that gradually breaks into reality and finds a way to embed itself in the story, shattering the need for symbols and opening a pathway for expression.