This Week in Film

Looks like it’ll be raining all week, London. We’ve found the best indie film screenings to keep your social life alive till it’s safe to go outside. And to sweeten the deal a pair of tickets are up for grabs to Thursday’s screening of Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog in Clapham. Follow TheLondonWord on Twitter for a chance of winning.

TUESDAY (that’s today!)

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (92 minutes, 2013) Dir. David Gelb
This documentary about a ten-seater sushi restaurant in Tokyo, with three Michelin stars to its name, holds the perfectionist subject up to the light.  80-year-old Jiro is inseparable from his daily goal of creating delicious mouthfuls. Dutiful sons compelled into the same vocation are less easy to read making this a reverent portrait of a master while a nuanced one of a father.
Where:  Oval Space, 29-32 The Oval, Bethnal Green, E2 9DT
When: The film starts at 7.30pm but the ‘film event’ can last for as long as you want – provided that’s between 6pm and 12am. The bar serves food but sadly no Michelin starred sushi.
Tickets must be bought ahead: £9 (£7.50 concessions)

THURSDAY

Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (116 mins, 1999) Dir: Jim Jarmusch
This surreal tale stars Forest Whitaker as a perma-cool, self-taught samurai hitman who finds himself targeted for death by the mafia. Blessed with stunning cinematography from Robby Müller (Paris, Texas) and an original score from Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, it’s an intoxicating, unique and strangely moving fusion of gangsta, gangster and ninja worlds. Oh and it’s all on 35mm, baby.
Where: Clapham Picturehouse, 76 Venn Street, Clapham, SW4 0AT
When: The film starts at 8.50pm but get there from 7.30pm for free (FREE!) pizza and chilling to tunes with other dawgs. A pre-film introduction and prize draw from impassioned film journo, Ash Clark is in the mix and in keeping with the caring vibe you can win a pair of tickets to the whole shebang. How? By  entering a retweet competition taking place today on our Twitter feed.
Tickets: £9.50, £8.50 to members, £7.50 concessions

FRIDAY

Pablo Larraín double bill: Post Mortem (96 mins, 2010) & No (118 mins, 2012)
Riverside’s themed double bills rank among the most value-for-money cinematic options in the city. This time round the link is director-shaped. Chilean hotshot,  Larraín, whose recent offering, No, about the political campaign to defend dictator Pinochet is paired with his previous unsettling film, Post Mortem, which zooms in on a couple before and during the ’70s military coup. Cram your Chilean history instead of getting chilly outside…
Where: Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, W6 9RL
When: 7pm then 9pm
Tickets: £9.50, £8.50 concessions (price whether you go to one or both screenings)

Disgrunted cinephiles looking for films on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday are in luck because there are not one but two festivals handy. Scan the listings of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival (on until Friday & featuring our beloved Wadjda) and the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (on until Sunday) for riches galore.