By Sunnie Clahchischiligi

In the middle of a small movie theater with about 15 people present for the weekend premiere of the Native American film “More Than Frybread,” I suddenly found myself getting tired of the buttery taste of popcorn and developed a craving for a soft, fluffy frybread.

I don’t have frybread very often but boy did this film make me want to grab a bag of Blue Bird flour and head home.

At first, I was mildly skeptical of the film, as I’ve found very few Native American films of its nature entertaining. But I gotta say, even I got a good laugh from this one.

Perhaps it was because I had been away from my home on the Navajo reservation, for some time. Or maybe it was because the trailer made it all seem so real and had me wondering if the film was based on a real competition.
“More Than Frybread” or the Frybread Movie as some refer to it, is a documentary-style film centered on the fictionalized 1st Annual Frybread Championship in the state of Arizona, where frybread-making extraordinaires from 22 different tribes in the state face off for cash prizes and a trip to New York City.

The film follows a handful of main contestants including “Buddy Begay” from the Navajo tribe (and the only male contestant) and “Sharmayne Cruz” from the Tohono O’odham Nation.

In the film’s beginning, it already had me wondering. The documentary-style made it look like it was based on true events, so naturally I wondered if it was.

And then Buddy Begay showed up, played by Tatanka Means. And I knew it was fictional all the way.

Begay was the Navajo representation for the contest and probably the most entertaining character of them all.

Begay quickly became my favorite character. He immediately won me over in a scene where he’s seen rapping to a flock of sheep in a carol and later refers to the kids and lambs as “the youth.”

And then Tohono O’odham’s very own Cruz comes in the picture.

A serious, perfectionist of a TO woman Cruz eventually became my favorite character as her stern humor and blunt nature had me laughing to tears.

The hour and 46 minute film takes a little bit of time to warm up to but will have your stomach sore by the time the end credits appear.

While there is enough humor to last hours and even days after watching the film there are a lot of notable learning experiences.

As a person who relies heavy on observation I quickly noticed how the film intertwined some cultural aspects into the film.

As characters where introduced throughout the film some were filmed speaking their Native languages and some of the landscapes and accents were exposed.

I even learned that some tribes including the Tohono O’odham call frybread popovers and Canadians refer to frybread as bannock.

The contestants are also seen in their “traditional” tribal attire (that is if they were tradition attire based on the tribal affiliation) during the contest.

All in all the film was both well-written and -produced aside from a few dead spots that pretty much gave viewers time to catch a breath.

But what do I know I’m just a journalist who finds Perry the Platypus from the cartoon “Phineas and Ferb” funny.

So whether you’re looking to see new or known faces in local Native film or looking to catch a good laugh on a windy afternoon check out the latest from Native film maker Travis Holt Hamilton that really is about more than frybread.

For more information about the film be sure to check out frybreadmovie.com.