VIDEO. Interview with director and rapper Baloji

“The starting point is the death of my father in November 2019. (…) The fact of calling myself “Sorcerer”, I rub shoulders with him at this time, after having spent years hating my first name, given that Baloji means “group of wizards” and that it is the equivalent of being called in France ‘devil’ or ‘Beelzebub’”, explains Baloji. In his first film “Augure” presented in the Un Certain Regard selection at Cannes, director Baloji tells the story of a man considered a sorcerer, banished by his mother and where after 15 years, he returns to his village to face prejudices. These received ideas, the director has also paid the price in his life, because of his name “Baloji”, which means “groups of wizards”. A name that he ended up accepting, in particular thanks to his film.

“Augure”, professional and personal learning

In his film, he honors women. “This patriarchal society is omnipresent in the minds of people, and men who are absent. Apart from the pastor and the uncle, there are almost no men in this film”, adds Baloji. In this production, his first, he learns that one should never abandon secondary roles. As an artist, his film teaches him how to write: “I believe that cinema is above all a writing profession. And at the same time, because I come from music. I also work quite a lot in aspects of fashion or art direction, so suddenly it’s kind of great to work in film, because in fact, all the disciplines on which I feel ease and I want to develop a language come together”, he confides.