2025 SEEfest Pageant Prizes Go To ‘DJ Ahmet’ And Extra

The South East European Movie Pageant in Los Angeles has wrapped its 20^th version with the presentation of jury and viewers awards.

DJ Ahmet, directed by North Macedonian filmmaker Georgi M. Unkovski, received SEEfest‘s Grand Jury Prize for Finest Characteristic Movie.

“A lyrical coming of age story set in a Yuruk village in North Macedonia – manages to be each deeply relatable and rapturously unique,” wrote the jury, comprised of Tessa Blake, Robert Bailey, and Marlis Pujol. “With stunning and evocative cinematography and nuanced storytelling, Georgi M. Unkovski (author/director) captures the common ache of a younger man looking for his place on this planet. Using the deeply particular particulars of the setting, Unkovski creates a wealthy and sophisticated expertise, saturating us in Ahmet’s viewpoint. The performances are beautiful permitting the movie to envelop the viewers in its humanist grace.”

DJ Ahmet, starring Arif Jakup, Agush Agushev, and Aksel Mehme, additionally received the Viewers Award at SEEfest, and the Cinema With out Borders’ “Bridging the Borders” award, sponsored by 360 MEDIA. That provides to a powerful record of wins for the drama, which premiered at Sundance in January, the place it earned a Particular Jury Award for Inventive Imaginative and prescient, in addition to the Viewers Award. It additionally received Finest Characteristic Movie on the latest Desertscape Worldwide Movie Pageant in Southern Utah.

The SEEfest jury prize comes with a money award furnished by Montage Media. “Congratulations in your movie profitable SEEfest 2025!” Montage Media President E’Ian West mentioned in a press release. “Your storytelling and execution clearly mirror the time, dedication, and fervour you poured into this venture. We’re actually impressed by your work and eagerly look ahead to your subsequent inventive endeavor. As a token of our assist, Montage Media Manufacturing Firm will likely be awarding you a money prize whenever you enter pre-production in your subsequent venture. Right here’s to extra highly effective tales forward!”

SEEfest’s Finest Ensemble Award went to The New 12 months That By no means Got here, directed by Bogdan Mureșanu. “A brilliantly rendered tragicomedy, The New 12 months That By no means Got here creates a vivid kaleidoscope of humanity via overlapping tales on the eve of the Romanian revolution,” jurors wrote. “Capturing the quiet madness of dwelling in a dictatorship, author/director Bogdan Mureșanu saturates his story within the particulars of rage and worry. The actors convey extraordinary depth and nuance to each second. It’s a beautiful movie with a outstanding ensemble of performers.” Scroll for the entire record of SEEfest winners.

Within the nonfiction movie classes, On the Door of the Home, Who Will Come Knocking, directed and shot by Maja Novaković, received two prizes, together with Finest Documentary Movie.

“How can a movie with hardly any plot or dialogue seize you by the lapels and never let go? See this movie and discover out!” wrote the jury comprised of Sarah Anthony and Gabi Hayes. “An outdated man and his horse share an intense bond as they survive the chilly and lonely winter within the snowy Bosnian countryside. Every beautiful body is sort of a portray. We’re nonetheless desirous about it weeks later. It was our favourite movie.”

Maja Novaković’s movie additionally received Finest Cinematography In A Documentary Movie. The jury in that class, made up of Ivan Cordeiro, Mark Hayes, and Denny Dugally, wrote, “In At The Door Of The Home Who Will Come Knocking, isolation is skillfully portrayed via an atmospheric setting, giving the story a fascinating, dreamlike high quality paying homage to a folktale. The narrative unfolds and evolves over time, steadily peeling away psychological layers and including depth via inventive additions. Director Maja Novakovic strikes a stability between restraint and delicate nudging, permitting the story to breathe whereas sometimes including refined touches to coax it ahead. Her very intimate use of the digital camera added by a relentless endurance offers the movie a meditational feeling that finally works past mere and useless life philosophy.”

The Viewers Award within the characteristic documentary class was claimed by Nasty, “The story of Nineteen Seventies tennis legend Ilie Nastase, the game’s first insurgent rockstar.” The documentary, which screened at Cannes final 12 months, is directed by a trio of filmmakers (who, like Nastase himself, are Romanian): Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu, and Tudor D. Popescu.

SEEfest, based in 2006 by movie critic and cultural entrepreneur Vera Mijojlić, is co-presented by ELMA — basis for European Languages and Motion pictures in America. The 20^th anniversary version of the occasion – showcasing movies in competitors come from 20 international locations of South and Japanese Europe — ran from April 30 to Could 7. Serving because the SEEfest’s honorary chair was Bulgarian American actress and singer Irina Maleeva.

These are the 2025 SEEfest prize winners:

BEST FEATURE FILM, GRAND JURY PRIZE 

DJ AHMET

Director: Georgi M. Unkovski

North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia

Jury: Tessa Blake, Robert Bailey, Marlis Pujol

Jury Assertion: DJ AHMET – a lyrical coming of age story set in a Yuruk village in North Macedonia – manages to be each deeply relatable and rapturously unique. With stunning and evocative cinematography and nuanced storytelling, Georgi M. Unkovski (author/director) captures the common ache of a younger man looking for his place on this planet. Using the deeply particular particulars of the setting, Unkovski creates a wealthy and sophisticated expertise, saturating us in Ahmet’s viewpoint. The performances are beautiful permitting the movie to envelop the viewers in its humanist grace. 

The award comes with a money prize from Montage Media (montagemediausa.com) whose president, E’Ian West mentioned in a press release: ‘Congratulationsin your movie profitable SEEfest 2025! Your storytelling and execution clearly mirror the time, dedication, and fervour you poured into this venture. We’re actually impressed by your work and eagerly look ahead to your subsequent inventive endeavor. As a token of our assist, Montage Media Manufacturing Firm will likely be awarding you a money prize whenever you enter pre-production in your subsequent venture. Right here’s to extra highly effective tales forward!’ 

BEST ENSEMBLE

THE NEW YEAR THAT NEVER CAME

Director: Bogdan Mureșanu

Romania-Serbia 

Jury: Tessa Blake, Robert Bailey, Marlis Pujol

Jury Assertion: A brilliantly rendered tragicomedy, THE NEW YEAR THAT NEVER CAME creates a vivid kaleidoscope of humanity via overlapping tales on the eve of the Romanian revolution. Capturing the quiet madness of dwelling in a dictatorship, author/director Bogdan Mureșanu saturates his story within the particulars of rage and worry. The actors convey extraordinary depth and nuance to each second. It’s a beautiful movie with a outstanding ensemble of performers. 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A FEATURE FILM

SUPERMARKET

Director: Nemanja Bečanović

Cinematographer: Dusan Grubin

Montenegro

Jury: Dennis Flippin, Valentina Caniglia, Jihane Mrad Balaa

Jury Assertion: SUPERMARKET delivers a visible expertise that transcends its easy setting. The cinematography transforms fluorescent sterility right into a dwelling, respiration panorama of human emotion. Each body feels intentional; the lighting nuances between harsh actuality and fleeting goals, making a rhythm that mirrors the protagonist’s fragile grip on hope. The digital camera doesn’t simply observe but it surely immerses and that’s why we really feel drawn into corners of loneliness, surprising magnificence, and silent rebel. It’s uncommon to seek out imagery so deeply wedded to a personality’s soul. In SUPERMARKET, the cinematography leans closely into distinction: chilly aisles lit with scientific precision dissolve into pockets of heat. This seamless dance is why its visible language deserves to be celebrated.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

AT THE DOOR OF THE HOUSE WHO WILL COME KNOCKING

Director: Maja Novaković

Serbia

Jury: Sarah Anthony, Gabi Hayes

Jury Assertion: How can a movie with hardly any plot or dialogue seize you by the lapels and never let go? See this movie and discover out! An outdated man and his horse share an intense bond as they survive the chilly and lonely winter within the snowy Bosnian countryside. Every beautiful body is sort of a portray. We’re nonetheless desirous about it weeks later. It was our favourite movie. 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A DOCUMENTARY FILM

AT THE DOOR OF THE HOUSE WHO WILL COME KNOCKING

Director/Cinematographer: Maja Novaković

Serbia

Jury: Ivan Cordeiro, Mark Hayes, Denny Dugally

Jury Assertion: In AT THE DOOR OF THE HOUSE WHO WILL COME KNOCKING, isolation is skillfully portrayed via an atmospheric setting, giving the story a fascinating, dreamlike high quality paying homage to a folktale. The narrative unfolds and evolves over time, steadily peeling away psychological layers and including depth via inventive additions. Director Maja Novakovic strikes a stability between restraint and delicate nudging, permitting the story to breathe whereas sometimes including refined touches to coax it ahead. Her very intimate use of the digital camera added by a relentless endurance offers the movie a meditational feeling that finally works past mere and useless life philosophy.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A DOCUMENTARY FILM – HONORABLE MENTION
SOIL AND WINGS

Serbia

Director/Cinematographer: Stefan Malešević

Jury Assertion: The movie’s cinematographic type is characterised by serene panoramic pictures that seize the tranquil life-style of his topics, setting the tone for introspective storytelling. SOIL AND WINGS is additional enhanced by very considerate enhancing, making a meditative tempo that immerses the viewer on this planet of the storytellers. The pictures create a hypnotic expertise, particularly in its ending sequence.

BEST SHORT FICTION:

CHOICE

N. Macedonia

Director: Marko Crnogorski

Jury: Leo Behrens, Michael Cory Davis, Brenna Malloy

Jury Assertion: Selection grips the viewer from its very first body, launching right into a frenetic visible type that mirrors the interior chaos of its lead character. The usage of fast, disorienting digital camera actions and pressing pacing — all motivated by the expertise of the protagonist — creates a visceral sense of unease, pulling the viewers straight into her emotional state.

With out providing an in depth backstory for the character’s determination to hunt an abortion, the movie as an alternative forces the viewer to confront a deeper query: Can we, as a society, have the suitable to outline the legitimacy of somebody’s private reasoning — or ought to it at all times be her alternative?

The lead efficiency is uncooked and compelling, anchoring the chaos with a robust emotional core. The narrative, although minimal, resonates via its depth and restraint. Selection doesn’t moralize or present simple solutions; as an alternative, it challenges viewers to look at their very own beliefs via the lens of empathy and urgency.

By the tip, the movie leaves an enduring impression — not solely as a commentary on reproductive rights however as a human story of autonomy and compassion, and the lengths some ladies should go to protect their very own free will. It’s a daring, affecting piece that retains its viewers on emotional edge from begin to end.

BEST SHORT FICTION – HONORABLE MENTION

APARTMENT 2A

Slovenia

Director: Gaja Möderndorfer

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY FILM

ZASTAVA BROTHERS

Director: Pep Stojanovic

USA

Jury: Lori Nelson, Todd Thompson, Jonathan Berman

Jury Assertion: Within the 1980’s the Zastava Yugo, aka the Yugo, was bought within the US for lower than $4000, bringing each recognition and derision. The movie focuses on “superfans” of the automobile, immigrants to the U.S. who hail from disparate corners of the previous Yugoslavian Republic, who transcend politics and bond through their love of the automobile. The jury discovered this affectionate movie a breath of contemporary air, delivering a peppy subtext of journey, unity, pleasure for the Yugo’s followers and their households. Spanning continents and generations, this custom pays fond childhood reminiscences ahead, creating new bonds and bringing households collectively — all via a shared love of vehicles.

BEST SHORT ANIMATION – 2D

HURIKAN

Czech Republic

Director: Jan Saska

Jury: Omandi Moore, Rachel Lewis, Peter Jayne

Jury Assertion: HURIKAN completely leverages the strengths of animation in storytelling. Via technical experience, deft pacing, and timing, HURIKAN manages to drag us into its world instantly.  Though unusual, anachronistic, and exaggerated, this world nonetheless appears to mirror the identical each day issues that each one individuals endure. With excellent comedian timing and beautiful character animation. HURIKAN reveals us that regardless of how huge or small our issues are, success could lie only one dangerous determination past our attain.  This hilarious odyssey of a parched protagonist reminds us that typically our relative sacrifices for the higher good might be tempered by small mercies alongside the way in which.

BEST SHORT ANIMATION – 3D

MILES AND FLOWERS

Ukraine 

Director: Danny Volosozhar

Jury: Omandi Moore, Rachel Lewis, Peter Jayne

Jury Assertion: MILES AND FLOWERS immediately conveys the heart-wrenching realities of battle and particularly Ukraine’s present wrestle. Via deceptively innocuous caricature, the viewer instantly identifies with the vacationers as they navigate a decimated metropolis. The adept use of 3D’s capacity to control mild and environment makes the character’s dread and hope palpable and much more poignant.  MILES AND FLOWERS’ nice achievement is its capacity to evoke empathy, regardless of how eliminated the viewer could also be from real-time occasions.

BEST SHORT ANIMATION – STOP MOTION

FAMILY PORTRAIT

Croatia

Director: Lea Vidakovic

Jury: Omandi Moore, Rachel Lewis, Peter Jayne

Jury Assertion: FAMILY PORTRAIT is an attractive, haunting, and at instances, grotesque illustration of household within the midst of loss and grief. With beautiful consideration to element, FAMILY PORTRAIT expertly makes use of stop-motion’s surreal nature to disclose the discord that arises from the collision of every member of the family’s coping strategies. Via wonderful craftsmanship and method, the invisible heartache turns into the primary character on this all-too-familiar story. 

Viewers Awards

Characteristic Movie: DJ AHMET, a shepherd’s boy story of music, old flame and dance in a rural Macedonian village, directed by SEEfest alum Georgi M. Unkovski, N. Macedonia. 

Documentary Movie: NASTY, The story of Nineteen Seventies tennis legend Ilie Nastase, the game’s first insurgent rockstar was directed by a trio of Romanians: Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu and Tudor D. Popescu.  

Different Awards: 

The winner of the Cinema With out Borders’ Bridging the Borders award, sponsored by 360 MEDIA, is DJ AHMET, Georgi M. Unkovski’s charming characteristic debut a couple of teenage North Macedonian shepherd’s love of digital dance music, which he performs to assist a younger woman pursue her goals of being a dancer. 

Honorary Point out goes to Emir Kapetanović’s WHEN SANTA WAS A COMMUNIST, a tragicomedy a couple of touring troupe of performers pissed off of their makes an attempt to convey Christmas pleasure to the kids of religiously divided communities of Bosnia.