Susan Klos of Big Time Picture Company has been a great friend to C&L along with her brother John all these years we've been hosting video. Because of their help we've had one of the most successful blogs out there and now Susan has just finished a great achievement. Her new movie is premiering this weekend and it's well worth the effort she put into it. I saw her early cut of it and if you're in the area, I'd suggest you make the time to see 'Lost Angels' because Skid Row is home to many unfortunate souls.

Friday, June 25 7:45 PM
Saturday, June 26 1:45 PM

Regal Theater
downtown at LA Live
800 W. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90015

Free screening. Tickets are first come, first served.
(Theater has 300 seats)

Directed By: Thomas Napper
Producer: Agi Orsi
Executive Producers: Gary Foster, Joe Wright, Susan Klos
Writer: Christine Triano
Narrated by: Catherine Keener

Here's the premise:

Director Thomas Napper's empathetic, but tough-minded documentary 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 addiction are common themes-but there is also hope and a surprising sense of community. Passionate, polemical, and generous in spirit, Lost Angels finds a unique vitality to life on Skid Row and a stirring humanity in those who live there.

UPDATED: Linda Milazzo writes:

I attended the screening that Friday, accompanied by Jamie Romano, my friend and Skid Row advocate, who collaborated on my original article. What Jamie and I witnessed on screen that evening was the authentic portrayal of the Skid Row community that the THE SOLOIST had dismissed. LOST ANGELS is an astonishing no-holds barred truth-fest; drenched in character, dipped in honesty, and steeped in heart. Every resident glossed over in THE SOLOIST is meticulously recaptured in LOST ANGELS through their stories and their visions of Skid Row.

Finally we meet the real people. We learn their names, their histories, their demons and their delights. Thomas Napper fills every frame with the realities of Skid Row. His lens shines the light on a people and a place too many choose to turn away from. He gives them his camera and they give him their confidence, their respect, and their truth. The result is an invitation, not an invasion, into their community of compassion, revelation and love...read on