OMEN (AUGURE)

Congolese rapper-turned-filmmaker Baloji creates a mind-melting tale of displacement and belonging, told through the interconnecting stories of four people in modern-day Kinshasa accused of witchcraft. Seamlessly weaving multiple narrative threads through a magical-realist lens, the film uses a wildly eclectic musical score, elaborate and offbeat costuming (a gang of street kids in pink tutus, for instance), and careening camera movement to create a constantly vibrating energy that hums throughout. Given the internecine strife that has riven the Democratic Republic of Congo for so long, Kinshasa has not even had an active movie theater for most of the past 25 years, let alone a film industry, so hopefully this vibrant Belgian/Dutch/Congolese co-production points to better days ahead. ~SM