Augure

Followed by a talk with Baloji, moderated by Jumoke Adeyanju

Koffi, a young Congolese man, returns to his village near Kinshasa after many years in Belgium to ask his family for a blessing for his unborn twins. His white fiancée accompanies him on this journey, which develops into an unpleasant confrontation with the family and their beliefs. When his nosebleed is mistakenly interpreted as a curse, he is forced to submit to a spell and is once again disowned by his family.

In his first full-length feature film, the multi-talented artist and musician Baloji draws on personal experiences and uses his name, which means sorcerer in Swahili, as a starting point to explore the prejudices and connotations associated with witchcraft. With carefully designed costumes and a seething soundscape, the film becomes an eerie trip of magical realism. (CS)