Augura: Cannes-winning rapper Baloji’s first poetic film

Rapper, songwriter, stylist and artist Baloji’s first feature Augure hits our theaters this Wednesday, November 29th. The short film was already directed by a former member of the Belgian hip-hop group Starflam Zombies Featured in the movie Afrofuturistik.

Awarded the Nouvelles Voix Prize for submission in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the feature film is directed by Marc Zinga, Lucy Debay, Elian Umuhire and Denis Mpunga.

After a 15-year absence, Kofi (Zinga) returns to the Congo to introduce his pregnant wife to his family. Considered a sorcerer by his people, he meets three other characters who, like him, want to be freed from the burden of their faith and their duties. Only mutual aid and reconciliation will allow them to escape the curse that affects them.

A poetic film about witchcraft

Also presented at the Angoulême Francophonie Film Festival, the film tells the story of the intersection of four characters believed to be witches. Baloji got the idea for the film from his own name, which means “wizard who can take the powers of other wizards” in Swahili.

The filmmaker announced in the press kit: “It’s a really scary name. In Europe I’d be called a ‘devil’ or a ‘demon’. So because of my name and people calling me a witch, I’ve always been fascinated by the occult and people being perceived differently. That’s why Kofi, the main character in the film, has wine on his face It has a stain: I wanted to materialize the severity of this label.“

The artist continues: “I’ve come to terms with the fact that my name also defines me. I learned in the Congo that my name originally meant ‘man of science’ and so it originally had a positive meaning. The word ‘Baloj’ only got from colonialism. A negative connotation. So now I’m fine and when movies When I started filming, I decided to bring magical realism into them. It’s part of me, so it has to be part of my cinematic language.“

color and color

The four characters of the film are associated with a different color, which gives this poetic film a special aesthetic. Baloji explains on this topic: “I am a synesthete. For me, it’s all about colors. The sounds, the atmosphere… everything has a color in my head. Thus, each character in the film has its own color: Kofi’s dark red, like his wine stain. Paco is associated with pink, etc. You can see this in the typography I chose to represent their names on screen, but also in the color filters we used. Sometimes synesthesia can feel like an illness, but I try to have fun with it.”

The result is a dreamy film about the search for identity, the clash of cultures, tradition and modernity. Augure is currently in theaters.