Omen is multidisciplinary artist Baloji’s magical realist award-winning first feature.
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
by Alexa DalbyOmen
CAUTION: Here be spoilers
Baloji is a Belgian/Cameroon rapper and multimedia artist. Omen is his first feature-length film. Baloji (whose name means ‘sorcerer’), a multidisciplinary artist born in the DRC, gained recognition in the early 2000s as part of the group Starflam. Since then, he has released three albums, all of which have achieved great success in Belgium and internationally. He oversees the lyrics, music, and the rich visual universe of his creations. Notably, he has directed several music videos, including Peau de chagrin – Bleu de nuit from the album 137 avenue Kaniama.
In 2018, he directed his first short film, Kaniama Show, which was presented at numerous festivals and notably won the Special Jury Prize at FIFF Namur. It was followed a few months later by Zombies, selected at festivals such as Rotterdam, BFI, and Oberhausen. He also appeared in front of the camera in Frederike Migom’s Binti, which earned him a nomination for the Magritte Award for Best Male Newcomer.
Baloji is co-president of the Camera d’or jury at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 with Emmanuelle Béart.
Koffi (Mark Zinga) hasn’t been back to his homeland of Congo for 18 years, but he is going back for a family occasion. His home is now in Belgium with his supportive white partner Alice (Lucie Debay), who is expecting their twins. Omen starts with Alice clipping off Koffi’s abundant Afro in preparation, because his family would disapprove of it, in contrast to its cultural significance in Europe.
But back in Congo, he gets drawn into what he thought he had escaped from when his family disowned him, and he and his partner do not seem entirely welcome. His nosebleed is seen as a mark of the devil and a curse that needs to be exorcised. His uncle (Denis Mpunga) won’t meet him. His mother (Yves-Marina Gnahoua) is hostile, as are some of his female relatives. The traditional rituals and witchcraft of his resumed African life are shown as colourful episodes of magical realism that run parallel with the world we know.
Omen is in four parts, showing four people painfully caught between two cultures and not belonging in either: Koffi; his progressive sister Tshala (Eliane Umuhire, Neptune Frost); his superstitious, judgemental, traditional mother; and an outcast in a pink dress Paco (Marcel Otete Kabeya) and his group.
The film is episodic, innovative and imaginative. Faithful Alice is our (kid gloved) European guide and reference point through its strange to her, maybe alien, African world and culture.
Interview with Baloji video:
Omen premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, screened at the BFI London Film Festival and is released on 26 April 2024 in the UK.
