Lost Angels: Skid Row is My Home (2010)

Director: Thomas Q. Napper
Run time: 77 minutes
Country: USA

An empathetic but tough-minded documentary that invites us into a part of Los Angeles that many choose to ignore-downtown's skid row. As we meet the distressed area's residents, including a former Olympic runner, a transgendered punk rocker, and an eccentric animal lover and her devoted companion, their remarkable stories paint a multifaceted portrait of life on the streets. There are undeniable problems-mental illness and addition are common themes-but there is also hope and a surprising sense of community.

Lost Angels is also a scathing condemnation of the Safer Cities Initiative of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton. Although its stated purpose is to reduce crime in the area, for many the program is nothing more than officially sanctioned class warfare, unfairly targeting the low income and homeless population of skid row in what some feel is an effort to pave the way for gentrification.

Passionate, polemic, and generous in spirit, Lost Angels finds a unique vitality to life on skid row and a stirring humanity in those who live there.
(Source: Official film site: http://www.lostangelsfilm.com/)

Speaker:

Dr. Jim Withers
Founder, Operation Safety Net
Pittsburgh Mercy Health System