A number of unpleasant things happen at the beginning of ”When you become a guinea bird. “Shula (Susan Chardy), drive home from a nice clothing party outside Lusaka, discover a pair of cowboy boots belonging to a man posted on the side of the road. Upon further inspection, the man is a corpse. And the body is her uncle Fred (Roy Chisha). The fact that her uncle is dead puts the machines in Zambian funeral traditions in motion, whether Shula is ready to mourn or not.
But the funeral traditions and boundaries of family love and support as Director is a nicknie explores throughout film Set up some interesting challenges for the production team. Traditionally, families do not show their clothes for three to four days until the day of the funeral itself. This meant that costume director Estelle Don Banda would have only one look for most characters for the main part of the movie. That appearance had to express not only their personality, but where they stood in the family’s hierarchy, as well as how dominant or vulnerable we interpret them to be.
For example, Shula’s funny, vulnerable, slightly haunted cousin Nssa (Elizabeth Chela), which reveals that she was sexually abused by Uncle Fred, does not treat his death with a lot of decor – understandable. Don Banda lowers her with a feeling of rebellion by putting her in a colorful party top. “It was a celebration for her. That’s what I wanted to show, ”Don Banda told IndieWire.
Nssa’s club -clear spaghetti tibes mark her as potentially unreliable and immature in comparison to the old money by Shula’s mother and aunt. But with the older women, Peace’s siblings who have closed rank to defend him and the family picture in death, Don finds tidy ways to introduce a sense of hypocrisy and highness in their character by making them appear most composed and comfortable.
Almost on “A good man is hard to find”, aunt is all a little too ready to jump to action.
“We didn’t want them to bring (Shula’s) mother and aunt from their comfort zone. We didn’t want them to look very foreign in their style, Don Banda said. “In this way, they would feel comfortable enough to remain themselves and give their most authentic presentation.”
Shula’s feelings are definitely mixed, and Don Banda expresses it by making her outfit for the funeral almost too comfortable.
“She cares for (her mother) and her mother have lost a brother, right? But for her, the whole idea of the funeral, which “can you wake me up when it’s done?” Do you know? She did not want to see the complicated process of doing this, especially (when she sees) how Uncle Fred’s wife is treated, ”Don Banda said. “So I put her in the most lazy outfit. I put her in the top of a pajama. ”
Shula’s attempt to disappear in the background is all the more marked because we first see her in very nice dress – a handmade outfit that is a tribute to Missy Elliot’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” Music video. For this, Don Banda worked with the same material used in umbrellas, a performance in itself to source, to get the same structure and shine as the dress in the music video.
“I had an idea that (the dress) needed to be great, but I didn’t know how to manage that it remains big throughout the time she filmed in it,” Don Banda said. “One day I just thought,“ You know what, it should be like a puffer coat. “So I got the tailor to make the puffer piece for the inner layer and he collected pieces for the upper part.”
The result is a dress that almost swallows Shula. It creates the opportunity for both resonances of visual metaphors about how the character carries trauma with it. But it also offers some black comedy; Shula’s handmade umbrella dress can’t help but wrinkle and huff when she tries to get comfortable in her car waiting for the police to show up.
Throughout the movie, Don Banda and her costume team help us track what is important to every character about themselves, and what shaded thing can get stuck in their ribs, just from what they wear.
“I was given the liberty to bring my own ideas to the table to see how best I could bring all the characters to life, especially Shula, and obviously incorporate our Zambian culture,” Don Banda said. “It was an amazing experience. Very educational. What I liked most about it was that Rungano wanted us to be related, and she allowed us to do it so we thought was best. “
