If you were to drive down any rural or countryside road in Sub-Saharan Africa, chances are that you would spot one of the unofficial birds of the continent, the guinea fowl. These plump, uniquely-coloured birds are icons of many regions of Africa, and are often seen as welcome additions to any homestead, farm or rural community, mostly through their ability to assist in pest control. If you explore their significance in local cultures, you’ll find some fascinating insights – they are often seen to represent protection and motherhood by many communities, who view them as essential symbols of certain core principles needed for any family. The specific meaning asserted onto them may differentiate between cultures, but they are constant presences in both the practical and spiritual aspects of everyday lives for many people. Rungano Nyoni is certainly fascinated enough by these creatures, as she uses them as the mascots of On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, her incredibly ambitious and utterly brilliant second directorial outing (following her sensational debut, I’m Not a Witch), in which we follow Shula, a young woman returning to her home in working-class Zambia after years of living in Europe, only to encounter her uncle’s dead body on the street one night. His mysterious demise plunges the family into a state of existential crisis as they gather for his funeral, and in the process, deep-seated secrets begin to emerge as the tensions between the different members of the family, particularly those who have held extreme grudges for many years, begin to reach their peak, made only worse by the belief in following traditions, which becomes a far more difficult endeavour than anyone may have expected, particularly when the truth of the situation begins to emerge. A blisteringly funny and utterly extraordinary masterpiece that earns every bit of hyperbolic praise that has been thrown in its direction since audiences first caught a glimpse of its delightfully deranged worldview, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is one of the best films of the decade, and one that will entirely redefine how we view certain subjects, especially those that have not been this extensively explored previously.

Family is a common theme in a lot of art, and is certainly not something that needs to be viewed as some revolutionary concept, since it’s been the foundation of countless works across every conceivable medium. Yet, it is still fascinating to see how different filmmakers approach the subject, since it is malleable enough to be the core of a range of different stories. There is an argument to be made that family is the most effective topic for exploring a particular culture, since every custom and tradition tends to be firmly rooted in the interactions we have with our relatives. The phrase “blood is thicker than water” is often use as a resounding celebration of the importance of family – but a film like On Becoming a Guinea Fowl presents a similar concept, albeit from the perspective of the challenges that can come with being inextricably bonded to a group of people whose influence over our lives can be quite restrictive and frankly unnerving, especially in certain circumstances. Nyoni craft the rare kind of cultural commentary that is both resonant for those within the groups represented or who at least have an in-depth knowledge of some notable African traditions, as well as being highly informative to people without any familiarity with these customs, using the theme of family – particularly when gathering for an event as daunting as a funeral – to examine the often unbearable weight of tradition, which can often impede those who do not abide by the strict conventions on which entire generations have been constructed. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is essentially a series of episodic moments revolving around a funeral, following the various interactions that take place, all the while quietly emerging as a stark and disconcerting commentary on the role of women in African culture. What starts as a more offbeat overview of these fascinating traditions eventually evolves into one of the sharpest and most insightful depictions of the conflict between tradition and modernity, as seen primarily through the eyes of women from across different generations, each one representing different values, ambitions and interpretations of these supposedly sacred beliefs.

There is something starkly different about On Becoming a Guinea Fowl that separates it from films produced in other parts of the world. African cinema has never been particularly interested in following the status quo as far as artistic inspiration goes – there’s certainly influences, but we tend to march to the beat of our own drum for the most part, and create works that stand in isolation as profoundly unique, daring deconstructions of certain pivotal ideas, reworked into something far more challenging and unconventional. The fundamental appeal of this film is that it doesn’t make its intentions clear from the start – we’ve already mentioned how the narrative itself contains many secrets that come unravel themselves as the film progresses, but the execution itself supports some of these very unconventional ideas, gradually becoming a far more engaging affair as a result of its refusal to follow traditions, rather than being limited by something that is relatively risky. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is crafted as a very sardonic, offbeat comedy – there are moments of outrageous humour scattered liberally throughout, the entire film being a set of darkly comedic vignettes designed to showcase the culture and its traditions, before gradually descending into something shockingly close to a psychological horror, one where the sense of fear and unease is derived primarily through the tension that emerges between these characters. Nyoni is a stunningly self-assured filmmaker, to the point where she doesn’t need to provide too much context, and can instead allow the material to speak for itself – some fascinating directorial decisions anchor the film and allow it to have such a unique tempo. This is particularly prevalent with the underlying commentary that drives the narrative – the oscillation between biting dark comedy and intense, character-driven drama is a keystone aspect of the story, creating a dynamic and unpredictable masterwork in which we cannot anticipate the next plot development, the director keeping us in a state of constant suspense, firm in her knowledge that she is creating something daring, provocative and entirely surprising.

Based on its subject matter, it’s safe to assume that On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is a film that is constructed from its characters – they are the foundation for the story, and the reason the film manages to be so extraordinarily successful, even when it is at its most intentionally vague and disorienting. It contains an ensemble cast in the very core definition of the term – it seems that every moment that passes, at least half a dozen new characters arrive, which contributes to the feeling of the protagonist growing increasingly more uncomfortable and constricted (especially considering the events take place in her childhood home), which slowly becomes filled with individuals, ranging from close family to complete strangers, all of whom say that they have come to pay their respects, but in reality are only seeking to take advantage of the situation to extract as much as they can – whether its a free meal or the opportunity to confront someone with whom they have a long-standing feud, this funeral offers soome fascinating character-based commentary, with the entire cast being amongst the best of the past few years. Susan Chardy is the anchor of the film – her character is caught in the middle, as she’s a part of this family (and is therefore privvy to the cause of the tension), but also something of an outsider, someone who left her native country to seek better opportunities, and barely recognises her home upon her return. Having a protagonist who is much quieter and more subdued is a tremendous merit, since it allows the film to cast a much wider net in terms of the supporting players, who are the true eccentrics and give the film a unique atmosphere that would have been otherwise difficult to achieve had most of the focus been on the main character, who delivers a more subtle but not any less impressive performance in the process. It’s a film composed of over a dozen stellar performances, guided by a filmmaker whose aesthetic brilliance is easily matched by her ability to create unforgettable and bold characters in the process, and which anchors this already daring film.

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl feels like a major revelation, despite the director already having made one very well-received work that firmly established her as an essential voice, and immediately indicated that she is someone who should be taken seriously as a vital figure in contemporary global filmmaking. African cinema is unfortunately severely under-explored, and we usually find only a small handful of films produced on the continent reach a global audience in a way that many films produced in other continents do, a major disappointment considering some of the greatest and most subversive works of art have been produced in several of our countries. The unconventional structure, peculiar tone and extraordinary attention to detail allows the film to stand side-by-side with some of the greatest and most canonical works of African cinema – its a film that the likes of Djibril Diop Mambéty and Ousmane Sembène (whose status as the guiding forces in the continent’s cinematic output) would be proud of, not only for how it explores tradition and provides a unique perspective into life on the continent, but also is a radical, daring vision that proves that another great African filmmaker can potentially have a place at the table, resisting categorisation in a way that has made so many of our artists amongst the most original and inventive in the history of the medium. It took several years for Nyoni to make another film, so it might be some time before she returns – but as we see throughout this film, it was well worth the wait. Her vision is fresh, invigorating and never anything less than extraordinary, having a complexity and ingenuity that is difficult to overlook, and which ultimately forms the foundation for arguably the greatest African film of the decade, and a work that will age exceptionally well, its ideas being perfectly matched by its extraordinary execution and willingness to be not unique, but provoke discussion into the various mysteries that we all ask, but have yet to be able to answer.