Why we picked it – The film Industry in Zambia is in its infancy but it is on the rise building on the country’s strong traditions of storytelling. This is Rungano Nyoni’s second film.

Synopsis – Driving home from a fancy dress party at night, Shula finds a body in the road. It is her dead Uncle Fred. As her extended family arrive for the funeral with increasingly manic demands, difficult truths emerge. There is patriarchal entitlement and matriarchal hypocrisy.  The significance of the guinea fowl in the title does not become clear until the end.

The film – The film draws you in, staring out on a low-key, light-hearted tone. But as the family’s secrets are revealed, you find that, as a viewer, you too have been drawn into the conspiracy of concealment. Masterful storytelling. Here is an interview with Susan Chardy, who stars as Shula in her first feature, talking about its roots of the film in African and Zambian culture

Director and Writer: Rungano Nyoni Cinematography: David Gallego
 Links imdb Guardian review Financial Times review