EditDJ Ahmet (2025)

Winner of the World Cinema - Dramatic Audience Award and the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision at Sundance Film Festival. Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy 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. Undeterred by his shepherding responsibilities, Ahmet enlists the help of his brother Naim to channel his musical ambitions and dazzle Aya, whose dance troupe is preparing to take the village festival by storm. Sundance Film Festival’s Short Film Program alum Georgi M. Unkovski (Sticker, 2020) makes his delightful feature film debut with this inspiring tribute to the unifying power of music at any age, as well as the unexpected freedoms it can provide. Unkovski looks to a charming young cast and sumptuous, dreamlike cinematography to capture the clash of modernity and tradition with fresh eyes, revealing a rural landscape transformed by the beat and bursting with color and movement. Uplifted by warm humor, lovable characters, and an unsurprisingly catchy soundtrack, DJ Ahmet casts a welcome spell that reverberates long after the last joyous note.