NM-filmed 'Frybread Face and Me' to begin streaming on Netflix on Nov. 24

Billy Luther is no stranger to promoting films.

The Indigenous filmmaker is at the helm of “Frybread Face and Me,” which begins to stream on Netflix on Friday, Nov. 24.

The film screened at the Santa Fe International Film Festival in October, though being available on Netflix will expand the audience.

“Frybread Face and Me” tells the story of Benny, a Native American boy growing up in San Diego.

Everything Benny thinks he knows about himself and his family is turned upside down when his parents send him to his Grandma Lorraine’s sheep ranch in Arizona.

Benny has never met anyone like her, and he is equally intimidated and impressed by her knowledge of Navajo language and tradition.

Luther filmed the production in Santa Fe in 2021.

“Ideally, I would have filmed on my grandmother’s ranch,” Luther says. “At the time, the Navajo Nation was closed. It was closed off to visitors and the ball was rolling. We went on this location scout. We looked at Gallup and Laguna Pueblo. A lot of places were very complicated. The New Mexico Film Office became really supportive of us filming in the state and helped find the perfect location at the Girl’s Ranch.”

Luther had a lot of land to play with and recreate his grandmother’s ranch.

“There was a plot of land that had nothing there, and you could turn the camera anywhere you wanted,” he says. “After the team finished building the set, it felt like grandma’s ranch. It was a big part of the story. The ranch was also a character in the film.”

Luther says the most important piece was making the set feel like his grandmother’s ranch.

“Sarah H. Natani plays the grandmother and she brought the energy to this world,” Luther says. “It helped for the actors to make this area feel like the land was lived in. Everyone respected it and it became comfortable. You have to, with your actors, create a space that feels real. It was definitely a component in the decision-making that I was doing. We had Navajo crew in each department.”

According to the New Mexico Film Office, the production employed approximately 40 New Mexico crew members and New Mexico principal cast members, and 30 New Mexico background extras.

The principal cast includes, Charly Hogan, Martin Sensmeier, Kahara Hodges and Morningstar Angeline.

“This production is telling a story of life on the Navajo reservation, which is a story that will resonate with many across the state and Navajo Nation," says Amber Dodson, New Mexico Film Office director. "It is inspiring and necessary to see these types of stories being told by fellow New Mexicans right here in New Mexico.”