On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

• Rungano Nyoni
• 95 min
• United Kingdom, Zambia, Ireland
• 2024
• Fiction

Award-winning, elegant, and sharp-witted take on chaotic funeral preparations in Zambia, where the death of a middle-class patriarch finally forces decades of lies about his abuse to the surface.

After discovering her uncle’s lifeless body on a deserted road, Shula reunites with her extended family as they gather to prepare for the funeral. Accused of not mourning properly, Shula’s composed exterior masks an inner storm that grows stronger with each passing moment spent enduring the family’s hypocritical silence about its darkest secrets. Like the guinea fowl that loudly warns others of approaching predators, Shula soon raises her own voice. Rungano Nyoni’s (I Am Not a Witch) critically acclaimed and slightly surreal family drama builds toward a furious finale, delivering one of the past year’s most urgent and unforgettable cinematic experiences. Winner of the Best Director award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.

- Johan Blomqvist

• Drama
• Försoning
• Familj
• Utmanande
• Motstånd
• Uppbrott