The 2025 Sundance World Cinema audience pick and Special Jury Prize winning film will be in UK cinemas starting 27th March and is the feature debut by NY born Macedonian award winning filmmaker Georgi M. Unkovski.
On paper, Ahmet is your average teenager. He’s looking to finish his studies, play with his younger brother and fall in love for the first time. But Ahmet does not live in your average metropolitan city and belongs to a nomadic people unlike any culture audiences in the western world could have come in everyday contact with. And that makes this cinematic tale a one of a kind journey through what its filmmaker calls “ the delicate balance between tradition and self-expression, particularly within a small, close-knit community.”
When we first meet Ahmet (Arif Jakup) he’s in school, but the moment is soon disrupted by his cantankerous father (Aksel Mehmet) bursting in to pluck him out of class — and subsequently school in general — so Ahmet can tend to the flock of sheep the family own and look after his younger brother Naim (Agush Agushev) who appears to be mute. We understand later that he’s been like this since the death of their mother, a feminine free spirit much missed in both the brothers’ lives.
Ahmet loves music, as their mother did we also learn, and one night, while tending to the flock, he’s drawn by the sounds coming out of the forest. Within it, he finds a rave, complete with strobe lights and people dancing, enjoying themselves as people do at a rave. It is there that he first spots Aya (Dora Akan Zlatanova) a pretty girl dressed in traditional, colorful Yörük garb. Perhaps until then, the film could have belonged to any culture around the Baltic or even the SWANA region, but at that point, thanks to the women’s clothing and as is often the case with that, it begins to focus on its fascinating culture. The Yörük are a formerly nomadic Turkic people hailing from Southern Turkey, and now living around the Balkan peninsula. In the film, the story takes place in the mountains of North Macedonia where a small community of Yörük are based.
Dora Akan Zlatanova in a still from the film
While returning home, Ahmet notices one of his sheep is missing and, after a few mishaps to replace it, he is caught by his dad. All the while, Naim continues to refute to talk, even when brought daily to the village “doctor” whom he hates. His tender looks along with Ahmet’s resolve and kindness make this a duo as likable and cinematic as Laurel and Hardy, but less comic and more poignantly so.
It is inevitable that Ahmet and Aya begin to have feelings for each other, and that their love is somehow forbidden, or this would not be a cinematic world we find ourselves sat in front of. What makes it special, and not another star-crossed lovers trying to find happiness in each other’s embrace is the culture they inhabit and their very special character. Aya is strong willed, a girl who loves her western popular music and isn’t afraid to show it — even at a village festival in front of her prospective spouse. Ah yes, because the one thing which I forgot to mention until now is that Aya is engaged to be married to a man she doesn’t love.
At the heart of DJ Ahmet, a must-watch quiet (well, not the music but the feelings are!) gem is the love shared between the two young brothers, who miss their mother terribly and find her in the songs they listen to together. I dare anyone with a heart not to find that connection and bond deeply touching, which ultimately makes the film so perfect as entertainment with a little life’s lesson thrown in.
What also drew me in personally was the striking look of the film, achieved by a combination of its talented cinematographer Naum Doksevski, the art direction of Dejan Gosevski and Aleksandra Chevreska, but also costume designer Roza Trajceska. The latter skillfully employs traditional flower fabrics — something available throughout the SWANA region used in different ways and tinted in several variations — to tell the story of the girls in the film. And to make sure that we, the audience, understand that this journey takes place in a traditional society, no matter how forward thinking these young women are. Or what music they dance to — hint: ‘Fabulous’ by Cut & Tanya Lacey for one.
For the full playlist we have Hallie Williams on Spotify to thank!
The unconventional turn in the story is its ending but I won’t give it away here at the risk of ruining your viewing experience. DJ Ahmet is a wondrous film, a beautiful work of art to look at and feel deep within one’s heart and I urge you to get to a cinema this weekend to watch. That’s when you will also find out how the sheep turns pink, as an extra treat from the film.
DJ Ahmet opens in UK cinemas on March 27th and is distributed by Conic Films. For more info, check out their website.
All images courtesy of Conic Films, used with permission.