Aarcflick

A puffy suit, a bejeweled hat, and a dead body on an empty street: Rungano Nyoni sets the tone for his second feature film, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, from the very first scene. This surreal drama focuses on systemic misogyny and the process of overcoming childhood trauma in adulthood. The Zambian film centers on Shula, who happened upon his uncle's dead body in the middle of a dark, empty street at night. His father instructed him to wait for him, and meanwhile, he saw his cousin, Nsansa, arrive drunk at the scene.  She inspected the corpse and knocked on Shula's car window. Shula had received strict instructions from his father to keep the windows rolled up, and he decided to abide by his orders. Nsansa contacted his partner, a police officer, to find out what to do next. He was told that the police van used in such cases was occupied that night, so his only option was to wait until dawn. In her dream, Shula imagined her uncle covered in sanitary pads, a visual representation...