New Directors/New Films celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2016, with an impressive roster that includes films from Brazil, Mexico, China, Portugal, Japan, and the very first entry from Ghana to have played at the Berlin Film Festival. As usual, the program’s unifying thread is precisely how different all the films are from each other, with some covering harrowing topics like the Egyptian Revolution, and others looking at the Mexican drug crisis from an unexpected, heartbreakingly refreshing prism. With so many offerings it’s hard to narrow down what to watch, but these are five essential titles from the festival.

Neon Bull

Simply put you have seen nothing like Neon Bull, Gabriel Mascaro’s sensual, revisionist Western follows a mysterious cowboy (Juliano Cazarré) living in the Brazilian countryside with his surrogate family. When he’s not tending to the bulls, or trying to secure the precious sperm of a priceless stud, he spends his time designing clothes for women. Whether we follow him going to a textile seller to get a quote on labels for his future brand, or seducing a very pregnant door-to-door saleswoman (in a place with no doors), there is no clue to where the film will takes us next, which makes for quite the unique ride.

Weiner

It’s heartbreaking to see this documentary by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg during the 2016 Presidential race, because in the plight of former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, we see everything that is wrong about American politics. The film concentrates mostly on what was supposed to be his comeback, as he entered the race to become mayor of NYC. While we all know how that went (spoiler alert: he lost), it’s truly gut wrenching to see his entire career succumb due to an issue that had very little to do with politics. We see Weiner constantly lose his temper, and become frustrated when people fail to engage with him on a strictly political level, and ask him questions about his sex life. The documentary should have audiences wondering exactly what amounts to infidelity in the age of Tinder, while highlighting that politics have become a circus circuit in which personality overpowers professional abilities.

Evolution

If The Little Mermaid had been imagined by David Lynch, it would look something like Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s enigmatic film which takes place in a seaside town inhabited only by women and their male children. If the film begins as a fairy tale, it takes very little for it to become a hybrid of a murder mystery and a sci-fi romance, as we see a young boy (Max Brebant) realize there is much more than meets the eye in his hometown. From the eerie mood, to the greenish cinematography that reminds one both of being underwater and covered in toxic slime, Evolution, as its title suggests eventually becomes an ethical essay about the battle between progress and nature. That it does this while arguing great points for both sides, is the sign of a true master at work.

Demon

Marcin Wrona’s Demon would make a perfect double bill with Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia, like the Dane’s end of the world epic, the Polish film takes place during a wedding celebration, in which the bride and groom must come to terms with the biting reality of what life together represents. When the groom (Itay Tiran) becomes possessed by the spirit of a long dead girl, family secrets come to surface, and the film goes from being an unsettling horror drama, to becoming an exploration of Poland’s darkly violent past. Wrona’s choice to show his scenes in warm yellowish tones is an inspired choice, since they contrast perfectly with the hell that quietly breaks loose.

Kill Me Please

In a world without adults (at least we don’t see any of them onscreen) the children run free and run a kingdom ruled by hormones, fear and the hope of adulthood as salvation. As a series of murders invade the nightmares and morbid hyperactive imaginations of a group of teenagers, we see them try to cope with the drama as best they can, which usually has them playing detectives, singing samba infused hymns in an Evangelical church, or having sex.  Anita Rocha da Silveira’s funny, heartbreaking film is a real gem that treats cinematic teenagers as adults, by giving them the keys to the city, she lets them know that responsibility is the only thing that waits on the other side.

For tickets and more information on New Directors/New Films visit their official website.