RUNGANO NYONI | ZAMBIA, UK, IRELAND | 2024 | 99 MIN | BEMBA, ENGLISH
During a carefree drive home from a party, Shula (Susan Chardy), a young Zambian woman, encounters her Uncle Fred’s lifeless body alongside the road. As the sun emerges, family members awaken with disbelief at the news of his sudden departure, each wrestling with their loss in different ways. Yet Shula maintains an emotional distance, seemingly unmoved by the grief-fest unfolding in her home, leaving her vulnerable to the scathing critiques of her mourning aunties. The funeral proceedings commence, forcing Shula and her cousins to sift through Uncle Fred’s troubling legacy and reveal the trauma at the center of their familial bonds. The titular bird serves as a harrowing metaphor, magnifying the predator-prey dynamic that found refuge in Shula’s family, with a slew of victims in the aftermath. Garnering her Best Director in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes, Rungano Nyoni’s (I Am Not a Witch, PFF26) second feature is a searing drama that takes aim at patriarchal structures, exposing the devastation left behind from gender-based violence and challenging the very notion of family ties.
Cast: Susan Chardy, Elizabeth Chisela, Henry B.J. Phiri
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