Capsule Reviews of AFI Festival Movies : <i> Following are reviews for the American Film Institute Film Festival. All screenings are at the Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza Cinemas unless otherwise indicated. : </i> : SUNDAY

‘The Essence’

India, 1987, 131 minutes , noon This preachy, tedious and repetitive film was financed by Indian hand-loom weavers--and it shows. As well-meaning as it is hard to take, it dwells in soap opera style on their difficult, poverty-stricken lives and proclaims that the ancient craft needs to be protected within India’s industrialized society. The central figure is a master weaver who wages a bitter, anguished struggle for survival.