‘Frybread Face and Me’ draws from childhood memories

Writer/director Billy Luther examines Rez life and family dynamics in acclaimed new film

Navajo filmmaker Billy Luther ‘s latest film, “Frybread Face and Me,” premiered March 11 at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, to rave reviews.

“A sweet, gentle drama that runs deeper than it might appear at first,” reported The Hollywood Reporter.

“Luther hits on something very special here, exploring universal themes of childhood and family in ways that transcend the specificity of its setting,” according to Deadline.

It marks the first venture into feature films for Luther, who is known for his documentary “Miss Navajo” about the history of the pageant and for AMC’s “Dark Winds.” He also will be directing episodes of Season 3 of “Reservation Dogs.”

He wrote and directed the film, which follows a young Benny as he goes from his home in San Diego to stay with his grandmother for the summer on the Navajo reservation. His cousin Dawn, nicknamed Frybread Face, teases Benny from the moment he arrives with his rock T-shirts and action-figure dolls.

Other relatives provoke him as well, particularly Uncle Marvin, played by Martin Sensmeier, a rodeo tough guy who becomes mean and frustrated after an injury. The film is drawn from Luther’s own memories of summers at his grandmother’s home on the Navajo reservation.

“It’s all kind of how Natives are,” Luther told ICT from Austin on the day of the film’s screening at SXSW.

“We have aunties and uncles that tease us, that’s how Frybread Face got her nickname,” he said. “It’s just part of our family dynamics and I really wanted to put that into play with this film.”

The executive producer is Academy Award-winning Māori writer and producer Taika Waititi, who co-created and executive produces the hit series, “Reservation Dogs.”

In addition to Sensmeier, the cast includes Kier Tallman as Benny; Charley Hogan as Frybread Face; Sarah Natani as the grandmother; Kahara Hodges as Aunt Lucy; and Jeremiah Bitsui as Uncle Roger.

The whole cast was in attendance for the premiere at SXSW.

“It’s great to have a good slot on a Saturday night,” he told ICT. “I’m really excited … the entire cast is here.”

Facing challenges

While the movie comes off natural and true, there were enormous challenges behind the scenes as the pandemic was in full force, roads were blocked, and cast members were isolated and then masked.

“It was a challenge,” Luther said. “I had to cast through Zoom and that was difficult, because I want to see the actors, have eye contact with them and physical connection and chemistry, especially the kids. These two kids had to have chemistry. So the only way I did it was to take the risk with just the Zoom chemistry, and hopefully it translated in person. That was huge.”

He continued, “And then rehearsals, the same thing. And table reads, we’re just all working through Zoom. It was probably one of the most challenging things I’ve done in terms of making a film. So many restrictions and when we were on set to be masked all the time, it was nuts. It was chaos. But the cast were pros.”

Luther said what kept it all going was the belief so many had in the story and in him.

“It was an independent film and there’s so many people that really believed in the story and the script,” he said. “We knew this story was special, and we worked, we had challenges, but every day everyone put their heart and soul into it.”

The set was also a problem. Because of the pandemic closures during filming in the summer of 2021, they could not access a home for a set on the reservation, so one had to be built from scratch.

“We created this grandmother’s ranch all from scratch,” Luther said. “We had Navajos in the art department, so they were really great at creating the corral. And it was sad to see it after we left being torn down. It was like, God, that just felt like home.”

There were other problems as well.

“There was also the experience of having no running water or electricity during the time that this film is set,” Luther said. “And that’s kind of my vivid memory of going home to Rez, is that you just make do, you don’t think of it as being challenged. You just work with it, and work around it and work through it.”

All in the family

A new face in the cast is Hodges, Navajo, who is a vocalist, model, and the real-life wife of Sensmeier, who is Tlingit/Koyukon-Athabascan.

Sensmeier has appeared in major films, including “The Magnificent Seven,” “Westworld” and “1883,” but Hodges has never made a feature film. She plays Aunt Lucy, the optimistic, beauty-obsessed aunt who shows the cousins her cosmetic secrets.

“I wrote this character of Aunt Lucy with Martin and Kahara in mind,” Luther said. “It was really important for me to work with her and bring to life this connection she has with the kids. When they met in person for the first time, they hit it off, and I knew I had something special. Those kids looked up to her …. They just loved her. Then Martin taught them so much on set, the kids said, ‘ Martin is our Native acting God,’ he brought so much to their new experience of being on film. They felt safe and supported.”

Sensmeier is a tough guy who gets injured in a rodeo.

“It was a wonderful challenge,” Sensmseier told ICT. “If the character seems nuanced, it’s because of the writing, and also putting that through my own filter, my own experience with my uncle, the uncles in the Native community that are tough on you.”

Sensmeier says it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to have his wife Kahara on the set.

‘That’s her first movie,” he said, “She did an awesome job. She worked really, really hard on that. She had been preparing for months ahead of time, studying her lines. She brought a lot to that role. She was ready a week before filming. I helped her run lines a lot, gave her my experience studying acting. That’s half the battle, knowing the lines frontwards and backwards.”

Catching attention

The film doesn’t always address the backstory about Benny’s family, such as why his mother left the reservation years ago. But the kid characters know something is off; it’s the way families are.

“Kids are very perceptive, and they’re smarter than sometimes we think they are,” Luther said. “That’s how I approached the characters and the story. I think that’s what a lot of Natives experience.”

And some things are better left unsaid.

“I left it as it is because it’s not a question that I want answered or want to answer,” he said. “People are conflicted within their lives and throughout, it’s just who we are, always. When you go home, there’s a different feeling. Sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s not so great.”

Luther says that after the premiere, he will be looking for distribution.

“What’s so important to me is that we have been telling our stories and making films with Indigenous narratives for the longest time,” he said. “Now people are finally beginning to listen and pay attention.”