TODAY AT THE AFI

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, 8000 Sunset Blvd. Information: (213) 466-1767.

Highly Recommended:

“THE PROMISED LAND”(Poland, 1975; director Andrzej Wajda; 3:30 and 9 p.m.). A massive, magnificent three-hour triumph from the Polish master: Oscar-nominated in 1975, and perhaps his finest film. An epic tale of three young men, one Polish, one German and one Polish-Jewish, who attempt to launch their own mill at the turn of the century, the plot recalls one of those triple-decker Taylor Caldwell “captains of industry” sagas. But the treatment here is both ideologically and satirically sharp. “Promised Land” has been accused of anti-Semitic touches; more accurately, it’s vehemently anti-capitalist, with all the hard-driving entrepreneurs--anti-heroes who inspire awe for their sheer ruthlessness--taking their lumps. ‘ (Kevin Thomas)

“FROM HOLLYWOOD TO HANOI”(Vietnam/U.S.; Tiana Thi Thanh Nga; 1:30 and 7:05 p.m.). A crackerjack documentary about how a beautiful Vietnamese-American actress--Nga herself, whose martial arts moniker is Tiana Alexandra--decides to visit her native country, which she left as a child 20 years ago, in search of her identity. She leaves us with both a sense of what life in Vietnam is like today and a feeling of reconciliation and self-discovery--even if journey and film put her at odds with many in the Vietnamese emigre community and members of her own once-prominent family. (K.T.)

Recommended:

SHORT FICTION(U.S.; 4:05 and 9:05 p.m.). Three gritty views of contemporary life: Dani Minnick’s “Where Are You Going?” tells of a tough middle-aged guy (Peter Mars) who seemingly exists entirely behind the wheel of his constantly moving convertible; Robert Schmidt’s haunting “Saturn,” in which a young man struggles with drug problems and with his severely disabled father, and Gregory Ruzzin’s “Hollywood (and Vine),” a bleak vignette of survival on the streets of present-day Hollywood. (K.T.)

“SECUESTRO: A STORY OF KIDNAPING”(Colombia/U.S.; Camila Motta; 4:15 and 9:15 p.m.). Colombian filmmaker Motta combines interviews and re-enactments to evoke the kidnaping of her own sister--and to call attention to the melancholy fact that, in her country, kidnaping has become big business. “Secuestro” becomes at once a war of nerves and a provocative political commentary. (K.T.)

Others: Short Relationships (U.S.; Anna Bourque, Dustin Todd Levy, Steve Levitt, Howard Cushiner; 1:40 and 6:50 p.m.). It’s two up and two down in this decidedly uneven quartet. However, Levitt’s “Deaf Heaven” is an extraordinarily touching account of a young man (Charley Lang) coping with the imminent death from AIDS of his lover (Kyle Secor) with the help of an elderly Auschwitz survivor (David Opatoshu). Cushiner’s terrific “Sexual Healing” is a wry account of a love affair between a lonely English teacher (Anthony Edwards) and a neglected wife (Helen Hunt) that takes place entirely over the phone. (K.T.); “The Devil’s Dream” (Guatemala/Canada; Mary Ellen Davis; 1:50 and 7 p.m.). An uneven “labor-of-love” documentary. Still, Davis admirably exposes the crushing disparity between rich and poor in Guatemala, the lies of the oligarchy and some of the vibrancy of the peasant culture. (M.W.)