09.14.2023

"Omen" by Baloji to Represent Belgium at the 2024 Oscars !

The national jury responsible for selecting Belgium's entry for the 2024 Oscars convened this Thursday morning. Their choice fell upon "Omen" (Augure), the debut film directed by Baloji.

For the Best International Feature Film Oscar category, each country is invited to submit a film to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which organizes the Oscars, the renowned American film industry awards ceremony.

On Thursday, September 14th, auditions and deliberations were held to determine Belgium's representative film. The film is chosen by a national jury comprised of an equal number of members from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the Flemish Community.

Out of the four films shortlisted in the final round of the selection process, the jury selected Omen to represent Belgium!

This marks Baloji's first feature-length film of the multidisciplinary artist. The film had its world premiere in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where it won the New Vision Award. It has since been selected for various other festivals, including Sydney, Durban, Karlovy Vary, Sarajevo, and Angoulême, where it won the Best Director Award.

"I’m thrilled to start this campaign and proud to represent Belgium for the Oscars. Proud of the story we told and the cultural meaning behind this choice.

We are coming from so far, it’s a beautiful ode to resilience, perseverance.

Now let’s work!"

Baloji

Four characters, considered witches or sorcerers by their families and communities, see their paths cross in a magical-realist Congo. Only through mutual aid and reconciliation can they escape the curse that rests on them.

The cast includes Marc Zinga, Lucie Debay, Yves-Marina Gnahoua, Marcel Otete Kabeya, and Eliane Umuhire.

We will now have to wait until January to find out the 5 nominated films. The 96th Oscars ceremony will take place on March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Omen is produced by Wrong Men and co-produced by Tosala Films, New Amsterdam, Special Touch Studios, RadicalMedia, Serendipity, Sudu Connection, and Big World Cinema.

With the support of the Center for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, New Dawn, Netherlands Film Fund, Netherlands Film Production Incentive, Berlinale World Cinema Fund, Screen.brussels, CNC Cinéma du monde, Red Sea Film Fund, Fond de promotion culturelle, Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Francophonie Image Fund, BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance, RTBF (Belgian Television), VRT, Proximus, VOO&Betv, Canal+ International, TV5 Monde.

Omen will be released in Belgium on November 15, 2023 by Imagine Film. The film will be distributed in the US by Utopia Distribution. International sales are handled by Memento International.