Sheep, grief and beats: The big-hearted DJ Ahmet

In a small Yörük village in Macedonia, we meet teenager Ahmet (Arif Jaqup) as he shares his passion for electronic music with a school friend. He seems carefree, but after the recent death of his mother his life is about to change. That day his father withdraws him from school to care for his little brother Naim (a deeply moving yet cheeky performance from Agush Agashev) and the sheep on the family farm (they’ll become important characters later). 

Each member of Ahmet’s family responds differently to their huge loss. His brother Naim refuses to speak, while their father (played with stoic grace by Aksel Mehmett) tries to ignore the pain the family are experiencing. His grief too is largely silent, but with grim determination he focuses on the practicalities of farming whilst attempting to force Naim to speak again. It’s painful to watch him take a reluctant Naim to a healer every day to achieve that end.

From the beginning it’s clear that Ahmet isn’t like anyone else in his village. He is an ​‘outsider’. Director Georgi M. Unkovski described his motivation for the film as ​“want[ing] to write about a person who is different – who just doesn’t fit into the environment. We’ve all experienced that, I think, at a certain point in our lives. And I think that was the most interesting thing for me.” We find ourselves invested in Unkovski’s ​“outsider”, who despite pressure from his father, refuses to allow tragedy and sorrow to dampen the joy he feels for life, beautifully illustrated by the delight he finds in music. Unkowski paints this picture with such sensitivity that we cannot help but find a huge place in our hearts for Ahmet, who with so few words demonstrates such huge passion. 

Despite the huge differences between Ahmet’s life and those of the average cinema audience, Unkovski makes it easy for us to see a version of ourselves in his story, cleverly intertwining the traditional and the modern through references to current soap operas and poking fun at viral content on the internet. But the key reason we relate to Ahmet is because his story is grounded in challenges we all face, wherever we are: grief, sorrow, joy and love. 

The character of Ahmet is a beautiful example of how in this story, less is more. Creating such beautiful brevity would not be possible without the bravura performances of Unkowski’s cast. Both Jaqup and Agashev are huge finds – Jaqup’s quietly intense performance is heightened by his breath-taking star quality. It’s difficult to look at anything but him when he is on screen. Unkowski described how Jaqup’s personality was central to his stunning performance: ​“He’s just such a pure soul. He’s unburdened by anything. Not seeing the camera, not being aware of the camera.” It helped that Jaqup came from the village where they filmed – this connection was key to Unkowski. ​“His eyes, his face, his hair, everything kind of worked somehow, that he was extremely authentic. And I think that authenticity makes it work,” he explained.

The production saw many youngsters for the sibling roles, narrowing it down to around forty. Unkowski described how when he saw the dynamic between these two boys it was obvious who the pair should be. He describes their relationship on screen as a ​“sort of magic”. Ahmet – true to form – says very little during their communication and Naim is silent, but their way of communicating doesn’t need words to be profoundly moving.

Unkowski is comfortable handing over some of the responsibility for the story to the audience, trusting them to become co-authors. He is clear that it’s not necessary to tell the audience everything, but rather ​“create the context and the space and the audience is the second writer to the film”. By giving his audience this agency he enables us to become part of the story – I found myself imagining the scenes we didn’t see, like the immediate emotional aftermath of the mother’s death and the details that lie behind Ava’s (Ahmet’s first love) resistance to her arranged marriage. 

After winning the World Cinema Special Jury Award at Sundance, DJ Ahmet continues to gain traction as it travels around the world, developing a loyal audience. Unkowski describes his delight at the reception to his first feature film: ​“It’s just way beyond whatever we hoped for the film, I feel very lucky to be where I am now.”