AFI FILM FEST: THE FINAL WEEK

T he following are capsule reviews of this week’s screenings at the AFI Film Festival of Los Angeles. Screenings take place at the Los Feliz Theater, 1822 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood, except where noted. Tickets and information: (213) 520-2000 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. WEDNESDAY

“The Sky Above, the Mud Below” (France, 1961, 3 p.m.). Winner of the 1961 documentary feature Oscar, this production takes a group of scientists and anthropologists into hitherto unseen areas of Dutch New Guinea, encountering fierce head-hunters and odd life forms. As with Thor Heyerdahl’s earlier “Kon Tiki” and the later work of Jacques Cousteau, we experience the act of discovery through the eyes of the explorers. With the advent of similarly based television specials, the film has lost much of its shock value, but its sheer force of observation and the film maker’s zeal continues to astonish. Recommended.