Surviving Life (© Paramount Pictures)

Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer has spent decades blending puppets, live-action actors, cutout photos and stop-motion animation to creative a distinctive style that is somewhat like Monty Python meeting Salvador Dali by way of Sigmund Freud. A retrospective of his career, from his early marionette-starring shorts to his latest feature Surviving Life (2010; pictured) will hit the screens at Image Forum (2-10-2 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku; www.imageforum.co.jp), February 21-March 13

Breaking out of the romance mold of recent Bollywood flicks is the tense Indian thriller Kahaani, about a pregnant woman searching for her husband during a major religious festival. The low-budget film was shot guerilla-style during the actual festival in Kolkata—formerly Calcutta. On from February 21 at Eurospace (1-5 Maruyamacho, Shibuya-ku; www.eurospace.co.jp)

Considering that its name translates as “culture village,” it’s no surprise that the Bunkamura complex (2-24-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku; www.bunkamura.co.jp) continues to bring the world’s best art to Shibuya. The latest case in point at Le Cinema is a series of screenings of performances at Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet. Romeo & Juliet is on February 27-28, A Legend of Love April 3-4 and Swan Lake April 24-25.