Arif Jakup, Agush Agushev, Dora Akan Zlatanova
Sheep hit the dancefloor in Georgi M. Unkovski’s disarming feature debut, a touching, comic and radiantly colourful coming-of-age story about the unifying power of music.
A 15-year-old boy from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, wistful teen Ahmet (Arif Jakup) has a lot on his plate after the loss of his mother, including herding sheep and caring for his kid brother (Agush Agushev). Weighed down by his father’s (Aksel Mehmet) rules, he’s also bound by his conservative wider community. He finds an unlikely refuge in techno music, which brings him closer to Aya (Dora Akan Zlatanova) – but she’s already promised to someone else…
Winner of the Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award and a Special Jury Award for Creative Vision, DJ Ahmet casts a crowd-pleasing spell while sensitively exploring the realities of life in patriarchal societies. Uplifted by its extraordinary young cast and a rich soundtrack that draws on regional as well as English language songs, it dances along the line between modernity and tradition.
