26/04/2022 - The musician, author, actor and director has just kicked off filming on his debut feature film, starring Marc Zinga and Lucie Debay

Monday 11 April saw filming begin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Omen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Baloji
film profile], Baloji’s first feature film, starring Belgian actors Marc Zinga and Lucie Debay.

A multidisciplinary artist discovered at the beginning of the 2000s via Belgian hip hop group Starflam, Baloji has since released three albums, all to resounding success. In music terms, he oversees the lyrics, music and the rich visual universe of his creations. In 2018, he directed the music video for Peau de chagrin – Bleu de nuit, from the album 137 avenue Kaniama, as well as directing his first short film Kaniama Show which was presented in numerous festivals and was followed by Zombies several months later. In film terms, he has also appeared in Frederike Migom’s Binti [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].

Omen sees the artist examining the singular path walked by Koffi, who was cast out by his mother after being considered a zabolo (sorcerer). After a 15-year absence, Koffi returns to Lubumbashi to pay back the former’s dowry. Accompanied by his future wife Alice, he finds himself contending with the prejudice and suspicion of his loved ones.

Playing Koffi, we find the Belgian actor of Congolese origin Marc Zinga, who was revealed in 2014 via Benoît Mariage’s Scouting for Zebras [+see also:
trailer
film profile], and has since appeared in May Allah Bless France [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Abd Al Malik, as well as in Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Jacques Audiard
film profile], the Dardenne brothers’ The Unknown Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
film profile] and, more recently, in The Mercy of the Jungle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joël Karekezi
film profile] by Joël Karekezi.

Alongside him, in the role of Alice, is Belgian actress Lucie Debay, most recently seen in Madly in Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raphaël Balboni & Ann Sirot
film profile] by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni, and currently touring cinemas in Audrey Estrougo’s By Your Side.

Filming will continue until 27 May in Lubumbashi, Kinshasa and Brussels. Omen is being produced by Wrong Men (Belgium) in co-production with New Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Serendipity (Belgium), Tosala Films (DR Congo), Radical Media (Germany) and Big World Cinema (South Africa).

(Translated from French)