Frybread Face and Me | |
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Directed by | Billy Luther |
Written by | Billy Luther |
Produced by | Chad Burris |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Peter Simonite |
Edited by | Fred Koschmann |
Music by | Ryan Beveridge |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | ARRAY |
Release dates |
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Running time | 82 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Frybread Face and Me is a 2023 American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Billy Luther. It stars Keir Tallman, Charley Hogan, Sarah H. Natani, Martin Sensmeier, and Kahara Hodges. Taika Waititi serves as an executive producer.
It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2023 and was released on November 24, 2023 in limited theaters by ARRAY and on Netflix.
A young boy from San Diego is sent to spend the summer with his Navajo grandmother on the reservation in Arizona, where he meets and connects with his cousin.
In June 2021, it was announced Morningstar Angeline and Martin Sensmeier had joined the cast of the film, with Billy Luther directing from a screenplay he wrote, with Taika Waititi executive producing. [2] In September 2021, it was announced Keir Tallman, Sarah H. Natani, Kahara Hodges, Charley Hogan, and Jeremiah Bitsui had joined the cast of the film. [3]
Principal photography took place in New Mexico. [4] [5]
Frybread Face and Me had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2023. [6] [7] It screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in the Discovery section on September 11, 2023. [8] [9] In November 2023, ARRAY acquired distribution rights to the film in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland. On November 24, 2023 the film received a limited theatrical release, alongside a Netflix release. [10]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 97% of 29 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10. [11] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [12]
Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: What Frybread Face and Me lacks in drama, it makes up for in a boundless affection for its characters and an appreciation for the everyday details of their lives." [13] Lisa Kennedy of Variety wrote: "Watching this family interact is a reminder how rare it is to see so many American indigenous actors in a space, weaving the unique and universal into stories that expand our storehouse of their experience." [14]
Frybread is a dish of the indigenous people of North America that is a flat dough bread, fried or deep-fried in oil, shortening, or lard.
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