‘Omen’ Director Baloji Says ‘Hating’ His Name Led Him to Making His First Film

Born in Congo and raised in Belgium, Baloji was known as a rapper, musician, fashion designer and poet before he made his feature film debut with “Omen.” The film begins as a man from Congo who was shunned as a sorcerer returns to his home village from Europe with his pregnant girlfriend. But it shifts perspective among four different characters accused of sorcery.

When you were working as a musician, a fashion designer and a poet, did you want to get into film?
I’ve been interested in films forever. I’m an autodidact, self-taught. I was living above a video club for eight years, and they taught me cinema by giving me films to watch.