On Becoming a Guinea Fowl12A

Directed by Rungano Nyoni | Zambia | 2024 | 1h 40m | Bemba w/ English subtitles | Starring Susan Chardy, Roy Chisha, Blessings Bhamjee, Chungu Bwalya, Maggie Mulubwa

Late one night, on an empty road, Shula discovers the body of her uncle. As funeral preparations unfold, she and her cousins unearth long-buried family secrets. Rungano Nyoni’s follow-up to her BAFTA-winning debut I Am Not a Witch is a gripping and evocative exploration of tradition, abuse, and resilience within a middle-class Zambian family.

Reviews

‘Nyoni weaves allegory with realism in a manner that nods to her Zambian and Welsh heritage, both possessing a rich folklore history.’
★★★★
Hannah Strong, Little White Lies

‘Writer-director Rungano Nyoni has a wonderful way of drawing you into a world and intriguing you from the start, gradually peeling back the layers of enigmatic characters to explore Zambian culture.’
★★★★
Anna Smith, Time Out

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed On Becoming a Guinea Fowl between December 27, 2024 and January 2, 2025.

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What else is on?

Today (Wednesday 23rd September)

15:30

Bitter Christmas 15
1h 51m | Spanish w/ English subtitles
Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film is a sun-dappled exploration of life, art and storytelling, as two filmmakers’ lives intertwine in a playful meditation on memory, creativity and the blurred boundaries between reality and fiction.

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18:00

Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Mias 15
1h 52m
Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow) unleashes a bloody, bewildering meta-horror, as a young director and a reclusive scream queen descend into a delirious world of queer desire, fear and blood-soaked obsession. Starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.

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20:30

Trainspotting 18
1h 34m
Danny Boyle’s electrifying adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s cult novel remains a visceral portrait of addiction, alienation and self-destruction. Back on the big screen for the film's 30th anniversary, Trainspotting is as exhilarating, darkly comic and provocative as ever.

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Tomorrow (Thursday 24th September)

14:30

De Gaulle: Résistance 15
2h 38m | French w/ English subtitles
June 1940: France has fallen. Army general Charles de Gaulle refuses to accept defeat, fleeing to London to rally resistance. Simon Russell Beale plays Churchill in this internationally cast first chapter of Antonin Baudry's two-part historical epic. x§

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18:00

Little Women U
2h 15m
The four March sisters chase ambition, love, and independence in 19th-century Massachusetts. Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Laura Dern star in Greta Gerwig's warm take on Louisa May Alcott's classic. Craft-A-Long screening presented by Together We Make.

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20:45

I Want Your Sex 18
1h 30m
Cooper Hoffman and Olivia Wilde star in Gregg Araki’s (Mysterious Skin) wickedly satirical comedy about sex, obsession and power. When a young man becomes an artist’s sexual muse, his dream job takes a dark and dangerous turn.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!