Namour

Among the various services that form the backdrop of life in Los Angeles, none is perhaps more simultaneously ubiquitous and invisible as the parking valet. Writer-director Heidi Saman's feature debut smartly centers on one such figure, a young Egyptian-American who over the course of Namour gradually succumbs to a nervous breakdown. Set during 2008's economic collapse, Namour is an elegantly understated character study that perceptively assesses the toll of financial, cultural and work-related stress on one's family and psyche. With its striking widescreen compositions, Namour is also a stark, bracing ode to Angelino light, space and often alienating glitz. (Miami Film Festival)