’DJ Ahmet’ Review — Sundance 2025

Starring Arif Jakup and Dora Akan Zlatanova, DJ Ahmet has plenty of beats, but its true harmony lies in its quiet heart. DJ Ahmet doesn’t just drop the bass—it drops you straight into the rural heart of North Macedonia, where the rhythms of tradition clash with the beats of a restless soul. Directed by Georgi M. Unkovski, the film tells the story of Ahmet, a 15-year-old shepherd with dreams bigger than his family’s flock. Played with understated charm by Arif Jakup in his feature debut, Ahmet’s life is a monotonous loop of herding sheep and harvesting tobacco, with his only escape found in the pulsing synths of electronic music. It’s a tale as old as time: boy meets beats, beats meet resistance, and life turns into a remix of rebellion. Ahmet’s father, played by Selpin Kerim, is as set in his ways as a record stuck on a scratched groove. Following the death of Ahmet’s mother, he pulls his son out of school, tethering him to the farm and to the suffocating rhythms of rural life. But Ahmet’s heart beats to a different tempo, one filled with secret forest raves and dreams of spinning tracks with the girl-next-barn. Dora Akan...