Billy Luther could have easily used his 15 years of documentary film making to make an informative piece about frybread, but instead he decided to make a feature film with a girl nicknamed Frybread Face.

“Frybread Face and Me” is a coming-of-age story set in 1990. An adolescent Navajo boy growing up in San Diego spends a summer with his grandmother on the Navajo Nation.

The coming-of-age drama follows a San Diego child sent to visit his Navajo grandmother on the Arizona reservation for the summer, forging a meaningful connection with his cousin during the stay.

We really can’t speak highly enough of Native American writer-director Billy Luther’s subtly compelling, richly amusing and hugely entertaining coming-of-age comedy-drama, which has already found a large and appreciative audience on Netflix.

I was born the same year Frybread Face and Me takes place, but that’s not the only reason I connected with its uplifting story about a young boy making the most of his summer vacation.

Billy Luther’s Frybread Face and Me is a more subtle coming-of-age story set on a Reservation, but brings the charm. Read on for our full review.

Billy Luther was exhausted on the Monday morning in mid-October when he spoke with Pasatiempo from his Southern California office about his debut feature, Frybread Face and Me.

Billy Luther’s coming-of-age tale follows a pair of very different Navajo cousins as they spend one life-changing summer together on the reservation.

An 11-year-old boy from San Diego goes to live with his Navajo grandmother and spends time with his cousin.