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The LAPD is reporting that two deaths were confirmed this week alone on Skid Row in Los Angeles. At least one of them is being ruled a homicide. Skid Row is the informal but widely accepted name for a section of downtown LA that about 5000 homeless people call their home.

The area has been a flashpoint between developers, courts, homeless advocates and residents. This past week LA City Attorney Carmen Trutanich once more attempted to lift a city ban on seizing and destroying the property of homeless people on Skid Row. The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the request based on “people’s 4th Amendment right to be free of unreasonable seizure of their property.”

Now a new documentary by Thomas Napper called Lost Angels shines a light on the people who inhabit LA’s Skid Row. Napper was the second unit director on the set of the acclaimed Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr film, The Soloist, which was based on LA Times writer Steve Lopez’s book about a Julliard trained homeless man named Nathaniel Ayers. Gary Foster, who produced The Soloist, Executive Produced Lost Angels.

Lost Angels, narrated by Catherine Keener, is Napper’s directorial debut and profiles 8 Skid Row residents, speaking for themselves, sharing their stories, their desires, and their hopes. The film exposes how a decimation of medical services for the mentally ill has resulted in only two options for people suffering from illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorders: Skid Row or the LA prison.

Lost Angels also profiles the Lamp Community, a mission based in Skid Row that aims to permanently end homelessness through services that include housing and community integration.

The film premieres tomorrow, December 7th, at the Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles.

GUESTS: Thomas Napper, Director of Lost Angels, Donna Gallup, Executive Director of Lamp Community

Lost Angels opens at the Arclight Hollywood, 6360 W Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, on Friday December 7th 2012. Find out more about the film online at www.lostangelsfilm.com.

Visit lampcommunity.org for more information about LAMP.