Frybread Face and Me

Filmmaker Billy Luther in attendance to accept the 2023 LOFTY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD at the  Saturday, October 14 screening!

Star Charley Hogan will also be in attendance at this screening!

Thanks to our community partner, Indigenous Strategies!

Director Billy Luther’s wistfully funny debut spins the tender coming-of-age tale of 11-year-old Benny. Sent from his San Diego home to live with his grandmother on the Navajo reservation in the summer of 1990, he soon bonds with his cousin Dawn, AKA “Frybread Face.” Framed as a fond remembrance narrated by the adult Benny, the film depicts an initially rocky relationship that blossoms into friendship in a drama that lives at the inviting crossroads of American pop culture and Navajo tradition. Luther’s take on the familiar arc of a city kid uncovering his true heritage — complete with amusingly prickly family dynamics — thrives on low-key warmth. Produced by the visionary Taika Waititi, this genuine charmer and its affectionate insights slyly reminds us how important kin can be in a child’s self-discovery. (Dir. by Billy Luther, 2023, United States, English and Navajo with English subtitles, 83 mins., Not Rated)

Other festivals: SXSW, Toronto, Mill Valley

Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi and Laguna Pueblo) is the director/producer of the award-winning documentary Miss Navajo, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens that same year. His second documentary feature, Grab, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on Public Television. His short documentary film, Red Lake, had its world premiere at the 2016 LA Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the 2016 International Documentary Association Awards. In 2018, he launched his web series alter-NATIVE for PBS’ IndieLens StoryCast.  He is a writer and director for the AMC series Dark Winds.