Synopsis
15-year-old Ahmet, from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, finds refuge in music while navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative community, and his first experience with love — a girl already promised to someone else.
DJ Ahmet
Cast
Director
Producers
Ivan Unkovski Ivana Šekutkoska Angela Nestorovska Michal Kráčmer Veronika Kührová Igor Kecman Jelena Mitrović Katarina Prpić
Writer
Editor
Cinematography
Art Direction
Composers
Sound
Costume Design
Makeup
Studios
Countries
Primary Language
Spoken Languages
Alternative Title
DJ艾哈迈德
Releases by Date
Premiere
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USA
Sundance Film Festival
Releases by Country
USA
23 Jan 2025
- Premiere Sundance Film Festival
Popular reviews
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It’s cute and nice but all too familiar. Being yourself vs what society/dad wants. Ever since mom died. Dancing freely is good.
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DJ AHMET is a visually striking and deeply heartfelt coming-of-age story about a young Macedonian boy navigating the expectations of his father, his village, and himself. Remarkable chemistry between the two grieving brothers, with Agush Agushev standing out. It captures the transformative power of music through rich cinematography, a vivid color palette & its infectious energy. Its only drawback is a narrative that hits one too many expected beats, settling into a predictable rhythm that makes it less than memorable.
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A boilerplate Sundance film that goes down easy and makes you feel good but probably won’t stay with me. Fine but nothing exceptional
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I really liked this. Such a wholesome, and occasionally pretty funny movie! It’s the type of feel-good movie that’s been done many times before, but it still won me over! I find interest in movies that deal with modernization in traditional cultures and the impact it has on its characters, and this movie does a good job showing how a village in Macedonia tries to adapt to that. I thought the kid who played Ahmet was excellent. He seemed really natural in front of the camera, for it being his first acting role. A great movie.
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Sometimes a change of location and culture is just what a tired genre needs to feel fresh again. Universal truth prevail and become even more clear in this coming-of-age tale.
The film is centered around the life of 15-year-old boy, Ahmet, who falls in love for the first time, desires to be a DJ, and contends with the conservatism of his rural village in North Macedonia.
Sounds just like growing up in parts of the U.S...right? But it's not just the setting that makes this special. The movie features a tender and thoughtful script, and energetic direction from Georgi M. Unkovski. He understands young love and sets it in a world of contradiction.
Young Arif Jakup as Ahmet reminds me…
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In the story of these rebellious young people, who retrofit a tractor into a mobile boombox, “DJ Ahmet” draws significant parallels to the film “Footloose,” another work that made the power of a big beat a moment of defiance. These kids sneak off from their parents, sometimes in the dead of night, to discover themselves in the booming neon glow of the darkness. In this singular pursuit, which turns tradition into laughs—such as the mosque’s loudspeakers glitching out to Window XP sounds—all of the children emerge as standouts. The weathered, freckled-faced Jakup is especially wonderful as the quietly resistant Ahmet. These are kids who you believe have lived a working life, who you believe have needed to pull their own weight. And yet, you never forget they’re kids, especially as they twirl and spin to the levitating energy of the music. [full review via RogerEbert]
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Needed more of the pink sheep, but otherwise this was SO charming.
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perhaps the first piece of world cinema to make me truly feel like I’ve experienced a new culture. macedonia is on the travel bucket list now !!
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pulling up to the club with a flock of sheep, that’s the kind of vibe i want to bring the function
Sundance #3
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So much fun and endlessly crowd pleasing, shows what happens when you listen to too much Spotify.