Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY has announced its fifteenth film acquisition. The independent distribution company has snagged “Namour,” Egyptian-American filmmaker Heidi Saman’s first feature. The coming-of-age dramedy made its world premiere at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival, where Saman received the fest’s LA Muse Award.
According to a press release announcing the acquisition, “Namour” explores “why life can feel like it’s passing us by.” The film chronicles “the unraveling of Steven Bassem (Karim Saleh, “Iron Man 2”), a valet driver for a trendy Los Angeles restaurant caught between his dead-end job and the demands of his Arab-American immigrant family.” The cast also includes Waleed Zuaiter (“20th Century Women), and newcomer Wedad Abdou.
“I wanted to make a film about feeling stuck,” Saman told Women and Hollywood when the film premiered at LAFF. “There have been stretches of time in my life that have felt like everything around me was moving along — except for me — and I wanted to make a film about that feeling.” She continued, “People talk about your 20s as being a time full of possibilities, but I felt the complete opposite. I felt burdened by possibility and couldn’t make any decisions. Cinematically, I thought this would be a challenging thing to visualize.”
ARRAY acquired the distribution rights to “Namour” in the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand territories.
“Writer-director Heidi Saman’s portrayal of frustration and anxiety within the American immigrant community is heartfelt yet elegantly understated in NAMOUR,” explained ARRAY’s Executive Director Tilane Jones. “We’re excited to introduce Saman’s stirring debut feature film to an international film audience.”
Launched by “Selma” director DuVernay in 2010, ARRAY was originally known as AFFRM. The LA-based film collective is focused on highlighting works by and about people of color and women. Their previous releases include Rebecca Johnson’s “Honeytrap,” Sara Blecher’s “Ayanda,” and DuVernay’s own “Middle of Nowhere.”
You can catch “Namour” in theaters and on VOD on March 15.
