Omen
Belgium, Netherlands, Congo, 2023: 90 minutes: Canadian Premieredescription
After spending years in Belgium, a young Congolese man returns to his birthplace of Kinshasa to confront the intricacies of his family and 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. The Cannes Award Winning Film explores the weight of beliefs on one’s destiny through four characters accused of being witches and sorcerers, all of them intertwined and guiding each other into the phantasmagoria of Africa.
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Cannes Un Certain Regard 2023
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2023
Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival 2023
Philadelphia Film Festival 2023
Göteborg Film Festival 2024
DIRECTOR'S BIO
Born in 1978 in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and based in Belgium, Baloji is an award-winning musician, filmmaker, polymath, art director, and costume designer. OMEN is Baloji’s first feature film, following several well-received short films that have been distributed worldwide, including ZOMBIES (2019). 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).
press for Omen
"Baloji’s striking drama … suggests a bright future for a filmmaker with an appreciation for atmosphere and character."- Screen Daily
"An intriguingly ambivalent reckoning with Baloji’s mother country, a genre-hopping, beautifully slippery exploration of Congolese belief systems and their relation to patriarchally inflicted traumas."- IndieWire
details
Narrative / Drama / First Feature
Swahili | English Subtitles90 minutes
credits
Director
Baloji
Producer
Benoit Roland
Screenwriter
Baloji
Cinematographer
Joachim Philippe
Cast
Marc Zinga
Lucie Debay
Eliane Umuhire
Yves-Marina Gnahoua
Marcel Otete Kabeya
Official website:
https://omen.film/
community
awards
Winner, New Voices, Cannes Un Certain Regard 2023