AFI FILM FEST: WEEK 2

L istings and commentary for Week 2 of the American Film Institute Film Festival of Los Angeles, which runs through March 26:

SATURDAY

“Deaf and Blind (Blind)” (U.S.A., 1987, Barnsdall, noon). The first part of Frederick Wiseman’s four-part study of the treatment, care and education of the physically disabled focuses on the work done at the Alabama School for the Blind. A rigorously observed document that unstintingly follows the daily activity at the institution. While one can argue that the film could be easily trimmed, there’s no denying the film elicits the poignancy of the residents’ life style. Recommended.