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The wondrous, sometimes bizarre work of the celebrated Czech animator and surrealist Jan Svankmajer has inspired admirers far and wide for two generations, from Terry Gilliam to the Brothers Quay. A new doc, “Alchemical Furnace,” about the maestro’s processes and inspirations played at the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, made by two close colleagues of the 86-year-old artist.

Svankmajer, whose roots lie in the revolutionary Laterna Magika theater of the 60s, is studied around the world for his use of handheld 16mm cameras, a wood shop and freezers full of meat to create films such as 1988’s loose interpretation of the Lewis Carroll fairy-tale “Alice,” the 1996 tribute to carnal obsession “Conspirators of Pleasure” and the 2000 fairy-tale of an insatiable demon baby “Otesanek.” His last film, 2018’s “Insect,” casts a host of Czech stars in a theater production that becomes terminally infested.

Cinematographer and director Adam Olha and editor...

When it comes to feature film output in Central and Eastern Europe, it’s all about marshaling indie forces and breaking out of familiar tropes this year, say producers and filmmakers.

It’s also about relationships in the increasingly interconnected region, as Katarina Tomkova, one of the Slovak producers for “Servants,” says of the

communist-era drama focused on priests facing pressure to spy for the state. The fact-based idea — a Slovak, Czech, Romanian and Irish co-production that premieres in Berlinale’s Encounters section — grew out of a deal structure created “very organically, and was based on personal relationships and friendships,” says Tomkova of Slovakia’s Punkchart.

“Servants” star Vlad Ivanov was a juror at the Vilnius fest, which awarded Ivan Ostrochovsky’s previous film, “Koza,” which led to Romanian producers Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu and Tudor Giurgiu — and later composer Cristi Lolea — joining the project.

Czech producer Pavel Strnad of Negativ...