Blood diamonds, world expos, electric cars, long-lost fathers, and emus. Such is the stuff of the unlikely world of Congorama, a big hit as opening-night film of Montreal's Festival de Nouveau Cinéma and a surefire crowd-pleaser. Michel, an underachieving inventor trading on the name of his famous and ailing father, leads a life of unremitting frustration. So when said father reveals to Michel that he is not Belgian, but is instead an adopted Canadian, Michel finally uses one of his well-intentioned yet ultimately pointless inventions as cover for a quest to find his biological family. Ostensibly trying to sell cable deicers to the government of Québec, Michel lights in the rural hamlet of Saint-Cécile, where a series of chance encounters will change his fortunes forever. Director Philippe Falardeau's second feature playfully interweaves the implausible with the poignant to produce a uniquely satisfying wry comedy. Unlike other films that use intersecting, engineered narratives to offer pedantic views of politics or culture, Congorama uses the form towards a richer aim-humor-with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Even lead actor Olivier Gourmet, the supremely talented Belgian player associated with serious fare such as the Dardennes' The Son and The Promise, sheds his characteristically brooding persona to deliver a pitch-perfect dry comedic performance in this existential, quasi-mystical tale of transformation and invention.