Frybread Face and Me

Loved every second of this movie. To hear the Dine language felt nourishing to the soul. I truly enjoyed watching shimásání weave and her telling the stories to Dawn whilst Benny was observing. How he talked about his dreams about his shimásání was heartfelt for me...

My husband spend some years on a res in yucca valley and I kept seeing his expressions, I could tell he's had similar experiences growing up. The actors were beautiful and wonderful. I would love to see more movies like this.

I enjoyed the slow pace and lack of "action" some people complained about.

Recommending this to my friends.

Although I am not Navajo Indian, I grew up right on the edge of the Rez. As a child, I never appreciated the beauty of the land and its people, only desiring to leave it behind. The sights and sounds of this movie actually gave me the gift of understanding how much my life was affected by the People and their way of life. It was powerful in its slow simplicity.

My graduating class in 1980 was 95% Dine' and only 45 of the 60 Seniors graduated. I wish I had been able to appreciate the honor I was given to live among - and visit with these beautiful people. I am proud that my brother married a Dine' and have four beautiful children whose Navajo mother and her family did their best to teach that serenity and culture to those youngsters.

I appreciate the movie focusing on the slice of life concepts on the Native American culture as rarely movies have explored this culture and aspect. Regarding as a whole, the movie isn't perfect but it's sweet and solid coming-of-age narrative about a Native American kid spending the summer at his grandma's house on a Navajo reservation with strong direction, solid performances and nice camerawork.

The camerawork is good on showing the atmosphere and the writing, while it's predictable and simple, does offer some interesting aspects on the Native American culture. The performances, while some of the performances are inconsistent, were mainly solid. The soundtrack is fine and some dialogue moments were a bit messy. It's definitely not perfect but the director does have a lot of heart in this story which is visible throughout.

Overall, not perfect but it's a heart-warming and sweet. Good for a watch.

Highly recommend, a very poignant look at reservation life in Arizona. This touching, coming of age film was well scripted and set in a very realistic, simple and honest way. The relationships were sometimes harsh but felt true, really it reminded me of spending time with my Granny as a young boy.

I never knew native people celebrated a baby's first laugh, wishing we had done something like that with our children. I'll definitely be doing that for my grandkids one day.

Side note - The other thing my wife & I thought was kinda cool is that we've been to the gas station in that movie 4-5 times when we were traveling in the RV.

Frybread Face and Me is a spiritual awakening for little Benny, caught between the divorce of his parents and trying to find where he fits in the universe. He learns the Navaho way of life thanks to his cousin Dawn, (she played a wonderful role), his 'bull riding' and sheep herding uncle Marvin and most of all, the two females who played major roles in his native awakening. The Grandmother is the central spiritual leader and family matriarch, while Lucy tries to meld together each of the individual personalities in this film. Also included are an aunt and uncle, and their very young baby, who laughs for the first time thanks to Benny.

If you're looking for a drama film, this isn't it. However, if you want to learn and enjoy the path Benny and his cousin Dawn embark on together that summer, this is a film you will appreciate.