NZIFF: DJ Ahmet (1)

Ahmet stumbles upon a forest rave at the edge of his local village, where he finds the escape he’s been desperately seeking in Georgi M. Unkovski’s loveable debut, the first ever Macedonian film to be awarded at Sundance.

Still reeling from the death of their mother and wife, Ahmet’s family are broken. His father, struggling to come to terms with being sole provider and caretaker for the family, pulls Ahmet from school indifenitely so he can care for their flock of sheep; meanwhile, his younger brother has become non-verbal since their mother’s death. Music is both medicine and matchmaker for young Ahmet, who escapes his grief and the grim mundanity of life under his oppressive father by blasting beats from the world’s jankiest stereo system to impress local girl Aya, back from Germany to be betrothed to an older man.

A modern day Romeo and Juliet, the stunning Yuruk mountain village of Kodzalia replaces Verona while the Montagues and Capulets make way for an eclectic support cast, with a technophobic imam, a souped-up tractor and a flourescent pink sheep all taking the stage. If music be the food of love, then DJ Ahmet is a feast of thumping electro and dancefloor anthems that spurs on the teenage protagonist as he fumbles through the throes of his first romance. An accessible and entertaining crowd-pleaser. — Matt Bloomfield

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