REI Co-Op Studios

.

Currently streaming on Netflix Frybread Face and Me is a coming-of-age fil about a young Navajo boy, Bennie, (Keir Tallman) sent from his home in San Diego to live with his grandmother on the reservation for a summer as his parents address their martial troubles. At his grandmother’s home Bennie is introduced to aspect of Navajo culture that were alien to him, his extended family including his cousin Dawn (Charley Hogan) nicknamed Frybread Face.

Absent from the film is any grand climatic emotional scene but rather Bennie’s changes are built from more grounded simple elements of his life on the reservation. Executive Produced by Taika Waititi, Frybread Face and Me isn’t part of that filmmaker’s usual chaotic style but reflects writer/Director’s Billy Luther heartfelt connection with his people.

I really enjoy watching film from cultures different from my own and this one was no different. An aspect of Navajo culture that I had been unaware of that this story taught me is the ‘Baby’s first laugh’ custom. The Navajo celebrate an infant first laugh or giggle with food and gifts. Technically the baby hosts the celebration but as infant rarely have the faculties for such an endeavor at about three months old the duties are actually performed by the person who induced the laughter.

The film doesn’t shy away from the poverty faced by those living on the reservation but that aspect of life is simply that, another element of living while the focus of the story and of Bennie’s growth is the reality and love of family.