I saw this movie at a special showing at Utah Valley University. The program plays like a documentary, even the organization which the story revolves around, WWFA (World Wide Frybread Association) looks and sounds like the real deal, however the entire motion picture is scripted and comes from the mind of the writer/director Travis Holt Hamilton.
The mostly Native American audience howled with laughter as the events of this 'mockumentary' unfolded. I thought this was due to the fact that it was a film about other Indians however, I have to admit after a few minutes I was also captured and drawn in to the story by the quirky characters and found myself laughing along with everyone in the room. The story follows five frybread experts from various Native Tribes in Arizona as they compete for the state championship. They are all funny, well developed characters, each actor playing their part to the max. I was impressed with all of the central actors and was amazed to learn that, for many of them, this was their first feature film performance. The director did an excellent job pulling out great performances from the entire cast.
"More Than Frybread", like many other films shown at festivals or in special showings sponsored by university clubs, has a low budget. I like watching show like this to see what up and coming filmmakers can do with small budgets. I've found that they have to be more creative and better story tellers than 'Hollywood' with it's mega-budgets, big name stars and flashy computer graphics. "More Than Frybread" doesn't disappoint, it's fun, family friendly and delivers a nice message without being 'in your face'.
