The 42-year-old Zambian-British actress, who makes her feature-film debut in Guinea Fowl, understands her character’s place as a young woman who has been raised to respect and defer to her elders.

If we wish to understand the world around us, we must listen to the sounds of the guinea fowl. They may well be warning us. Elizabeth Chisela in a scene from "On Becoming a Guinea Fowl." ...