Mutale Kampuni gives us a bird’s-eye view of On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.

The death of one man unravels a web of unpleasant memories of sexual abuse and violence in a society that prefers to pretend such things don’t happen. The unspoken rule is to turn a blind eye to the perpetrator’s misdeeds. Victims are prevented from speaking out. They are berated for the absence of grief in their demeanour during the funeral gathering, with one young woman, Shula (Susan Chardy), singled out.

This black comedy drama from Dublin-based production company Element Pictures opens as Shula discovers the dead body of ‘Uncle Fred’ (Roy Chisha) lying on a road. Together with her cousin Nsansa (Elizabeth Chisela), Shula informs the police and other relatives about the grim discovery. From then on, the community’s cultural traditions are depicted; this involves respecting departed family members at all costs. Their memory is honoured, venerating them as leading exemplary lives, even though in actual fact this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Fred was an abuser, and each of his victims had to deal with suffering in silence, relegating traumatic experiences to the darkest recesses of their memories. All they can do now is refuse to mourn him, instead rejoicing in his departure from the world.

Instrumental in perpetrating and perpetuating this abuse are the female elders of the family, who lay down rules of dominant authority. They wield power over the younger women. Mourners gather at the home of Fred’s sister, Shula’s mother, in a leafy suburb. This is far from the humble abode he lived in with his children in a less desirable neighbourhood.

Fred’s young widow (Norah Mwansa) is further traumatised, disparaged, and harassed by the elders. They demand she give an account of how her husband died on an open road. Her responses are dismissed, the burden of guilt laid squarely on her shoulders. She is accused of disrespecting and neglecting him, and to all intents and purposes, being the cause of his demise. Her own relations are ostracised too and judged as deserving punishment, together with the widow. Shula is conscientious and attempts, in her own quiet way, to be the silent voice of reason, refusing to be complicit and providing support where she sees it needed.

In the background throughout the narrative, there is a focus on Shula’s memory of a game show she watched as a child, in which a Guinea Fowl features prominently. Shula recalls how this bird alerts other animals in their savannah habitat to approaching predators. By the end of the movie, Shula herself has become the Guinea Fowl. The tale of abuse and survival is interspersed with elements of comedy and tragedy, which comes across in many ways as bittersweet and melancholy. The abused women try to reclaim control over their fractured lives, turning their pain into a matter for jokes.

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is the second feature by Zambian-Welsh director Rungano Nyoni, whose debut film I Am Not A Witch won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut and was selected as the British entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. In a similar vein, her latest film takes the viewer on a journey of injustice against women, which is intertwined with the common mores of society. There is a complexity of emotions as the meaning of events is implied, rather than spelt outright. Combined in this are rituals and myths, which have the strongest hold in the minds and everyday lives of people.  Women and girls bear the brunt of the cruelty and disadvantage here.

In cinemas 6th December 2024.

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