Ahmet (Arif Jakup) is a 15-year-old shepherd in North Macedonia, caring for his non-verbal brother, Naim (Agust Agushev), and at odds with his father. His father wishes for Ahmet to have a simple, steady life among the hills. Yet Ahmet dreams of DJ decks and the discotheque. Debuting at Sundance in 2025, DJ Ahmet is a coming-of-age dramedy focusing on grief, family, love, and EDM bass drops.
DJ Ahmet keeps to the traditions of the coming-of-age canon with the added subtlety of a festival darling drama. Ahmet’s exploration of EDM is through Aya (Dora Akan Zlatanova), a teenage girl who is engaged to a boy in the village. But Aya, like Ahmet, is unconcerned with family or local expectations; she wants the dancefloor and going viral on TikTok. Ahmet and Aya’s love grows as the two teens forge a new path into an old world determined to bind them.
Jakup, Agushev, and Zlatanova all make their screen debut with DJ Ahmet. The newcomers shine on screen, delivering naturalistic performances as kids trying to find themselves amid adults who have chosen paths for them. Jakup has instant chemistry with Zlatanova, feeding into each other’s quirks, smiles, confidence, and insecurities. Despite his lack of dialogue, Agushev conveys a range of emotions through his eyes and mannerisms, making the non-verbal Naim a standout character. Performances throughout the cast give DJ Ahmet a sense of high-drama feel at a fraction of the budget.
Writer and director Georgi M. Unkovski blends influences across genres to bring Ahmet and his music to the screen. Unkovski moves effortlessly between a Tarantino-esque needle drop to introduce Aya and a Wes Anderson-inspired deadpan all within a single scene. However, the most significant influence on DJ Ahmet is the Festival scene of the 2020s. Unkovski blends Chloé Zhao‘s drama with a Sound of Metal edge, but never ceases to be a coming-of-age story or to sacrifice quirky laughs. The movie poster says it all: DJ Ahmet seeks to be the pink sheep in a flock of normalcy.
EDM as a catalyst for adventure is DJ Ahmet‘s most innovative moment. The sprawling mountains and countryside convey Ahmet’s isolation, but, juxtaposed with the synthing and pounding rhythms of EDM, give him his freedom. It’s a direct counter to the analog and rustic world of his father, a complete embrace of technology. Yet even with this creative use of genre, the relationship between Ahmet and his father arcs abruptly. Unkovski takes his time unpeeling the layers of the dynamic between the father and his sons, but unravels the catharsis in the final moments. DJ Ahmet features enough foreshadowing to sell the central climax. But the payoff between father and son needs further exploration, rather than hanging on a single impactful conversation.
DJ Ahmet took the World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance 2025. And it checks out. Sundance is a festival that prides itself on championing indie greats, the future of cinema. Unkovski crafts a film that is equally down-to-earth and exploratory. Telling an eclectic Gen-Z romance within the homestead countryside adds a wrinkle to the Coming-of-Age genre. DJ Ahmet stumbles on some relationships and is slow to build its foundation. However, Unkovski, like his characters, seeks to be unique. To find a voice and add the voice of Macedonia to the collective of World Cinema. And like Ahmet, Aya, and Naim, Unkovski celebrates uniqueness in lush mountains, among the stubborn sheep, and even under the bright rave lights.
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