TODAY AT AFI FESTIVAL

F ollowing are The Times’ recommendations for today’s schedule of the American Film Institute International Film Festival, with commentary by the film reviewing staff. All screenings , unless otherwise noted, are at Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 800 Sunset Blvd. Information: (213) 466-1767.

Recommended:

“GREEN ON THURSDAYS”(U.S.; directors Dean Bushala, Deirdre Heaslip; 1:40, 4:05 & 6:50 p.m.). Bushala and Heaslip’s profoundly unsettling work is almost certainly the most comprehensive documentary on gay- and lesbian-bashing to date, probing the widespread, recurring violence with clarity and compassion. The city in question is Chicago, but what Bushala and Heaslip reveal is unfortunately true, in varying degrees, of urban areas everywhere.

“THE LEGEND OF FONG SAI-YUK”(Hong Kong; Yuen Kwai; 4 & 9 p.m.). This period martial arts comedy-adventure is gaudy, often fun--though sometimes confusing--and wonderfully silly. Example: Our hero (Jet Lee) must do battle for the hand of his beloved, not with her father, but with her mother; they engage in their kung foolery on the heads and shoulders of onlookers, since he or she who first touches ground, loses. Perhaps best left to aficionados; they’ll love it.