On Becoming A Guinea Fowl

Screening: 14 May 2026

Shula, a character in On Becoming A Guinea Fowl, looks up with interest and suspicion towards the camera.

Director: Rungano Nyoni
Cast: Susan Chardy, Elizabeth Chisela, Roy Chisha, Henry B.J. Phiri
Country: Zambia, UK, Ireland, USA Language: Bemba, English (English subtitles)
Running time: 99 mins
Rating: 12A

Film summary

On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family in filmmaker Rungano Nyoni’s surreal and vibrant reckoning with the lies we tell ourselves.

Watch the trailer

What the critics said

“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is shocking, surreal — and sbsolutely brilliant – Zambian filmmaker Rungano Nyoni’s second feature starts with a dead body in the road. It ends with rage, righteousness, and a reminder that it takes a village to keep a secret.”

David Fear, Rolling Stone

“Writer-director Rungano Nyoni has a wonderful way of drawing you into a world and intriguing you from the start, gradually peeling back the layers of enigmatic characters to explore Zambian culture and a riveting story of sisterhood and buried trauma.”

Anna Smith, Time Out

Major awards

  • Winner – Un Certain Regard – Best Director, Cannes 2024
  • Nominee – Best British Independent Film, British Independent Film Awards 2024
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