ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL World Cinema

Driving alone in the middle of the night, Shula comes across the body of her uncle, lying lifeless on a deserted road. Immediately inhabiting the role of dutiful family member, she ensures that the body is taken care of and, the following day, begins funeral preparations. Finding herself unable to suppress feelings of discomfort with the elder women’s performance of grief, as ritualized in the matriarchal Zambian culture, Shula opens up to her cousins, and the younger women soon surface memories and secrets long dismissed. Left questioning how they had been pulled so deeply into a collective sense of denial, together they confront their own conflicted relationships to culture, tradition and family. Zambian filmmaker Rungano Nyoni (I AM NOT A WITCH, AFI FEST 2017) returns, vibrant and assured, with this striking sophomore feature, awarded Best Director in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. –Malin Kan