"Frybread Face & Me" is a semi-autobiographical "Indigenous coming-of-age" tale written and directed by Billy Luther.
The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Benny who is sent to a Navajo reservation to live with his grandmother against his will. However, the experience both lets him connect with his family as well as helps him get in touch with his Indigenous culture (via Deadline). Benny spends much of the movie working on his grandmother's Arizona ranch herding sheep alongside his cousin, Fry (via Variety).
The project was one of 10 which was selected for the 2020 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs, of which Luther is a graduate.
Like Luther's other projects, "Frybread Face & Me" will explore themes of Indigenous identity, which has traditionally been underrepresented in Hollywood. His first film was the documentary "Miss Navajo," about a woman competing in a Navajo beauty pageant, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. That was followed by the 2011 documentary feature "Grab," which explores the traditional Grab Day observed on villages in the Laguna Pueblo reservation, when residents throw food and water from their rooftops to people standing below (via IMDB). In 2018, he directed the webseries "alter-NATIVE" for PBS' Indie Lens StoryCast.
