Baloji’s Mesmerizing Debut Feature “OMEN” Opens This Friday

A Debut Feature from BALOJI Opens in New York (at the IFC Center) this Friday, April 12th and Los Angeles (at Laemmle Royal) on April 19th Watch the Trailer ** Belgium’s Submission for the Academy Awards ** WINNER: New Voice Prize — 2023 Cannes Film Festival WINNER: Best Director Award — 2023 Sitges International Film Festival __ “A head-turning first feature. Announces its writer-director as an artist of significant formal imagination and daring. This distinctive vision from rapper-turned-filmmaker Baloji fills in the ellipses in its narrative with abundant sensory rewards.” – Guy Lodge, VARIETY ____ “An intoxicating tale of alleged witchcraft and buried traumas. Baloji tackles his material with both clarity and complexity. A visually striking, deeply compassionate, and memorable debut.” – Arjun Sajip , INDIEWIRE “An artful and intriguing take on the African diasporic experience. Easy to be enthralled by.” – Lovia Gyarkye, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER   Synopsis After spending years in Belgium, Koffi (Marc Zinga, Spectre), a young Congolese man, returns to his birthplace of Kinshasa to confront his family and homeland culture. Secrecy and sorcery erupt when a nosebleed is mistaken for a curse, and Koffi is shunned from his family. Using magical realism to paint a portrait of “undesirables” and “sorcerers,” OMEN delves into the intricacies of identity, culture, and belief systems through a deeply rich and visually captivating lens. [ tags Balogi, Omen]  About the Director Baloji is an award-winning musician, filmmaker, polymath, art director, and costume designer. As a musician, Baloji has released two critically acclaimed albums and two EPs. The latest, Avenue Kaniama, was released on Bella Union Records (Father John Mistry, Fleet Foxes). OMEN is Baloji’s first feature film, and he wrote and composed 4 separate records (from the points of view of the 4 main characters) to accompany its release. Born in 1978 in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and based in Belgium, The word “baloji” refers to occult and evil forces. In Swahili, it initially meant “man of science,” but in colonial times it has been interpreted as “man of occult sciences”—essentially, “sorcerer.” This nominal assignment has been a heavy burden, but, at the same time, has served as a driver for both playful and empirical approaches to art, yielding an imaginative vision suspended between the oneiric and magical realism. Director: Baloji Screenwriters: Baloji, Thomas van Zuylen Cast: Marc Zinga, Lucie Debay, Eliane Umuhire, Yves-Marina Gnahoua, Marcel Otete Kabeya Producer: Benoit Roiland Co-Producers: Sander Verdonck, Emmanuel Lupia Cinematographer: Joachim Philippe Editors: Bruno Tracq, Bertrand Conard Composer: Liesa Van Der AA Countries: Belgium, Netherlands, Democratic Republic of Congo Languages: French, Swahili, Lingala, English Runtime: 90 minutes