With an MFA in film as well as a law degree, writer/director Courtney Hunt told Filmmaker Magazine’s Scott Macaulay that she “wanted to do a story where women were really active, where they were really doing stuff. Not relationship stuff,” (Summer 2008; pg. 35). After her first short film was picked up for PBS’ American Playhouse, Hunt found herself fascinated upon the discovery of real life female smugglers going between New York and Canada and bringing in human traffic to provide for their families by crossing the perilous St. Lawrence River.
After setting her thoughts to paper, she interested former Homicide: Life on the Street and 21 Grams actress Melissa Leo as well as talented young Skins actress Misty Upham to appear in the 2004 version of the short film before finally, in true independent spirit, she and her husband raised enough money to turn Frozen River into a feature length work.
Lauded by filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and winner of Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize along with numerous others, Hunt’s subtle film offers one of the year’s finest, underrated acting portrayals by veteran star Melissa Leo. Now playing in limited theatrical release, Frozen River has skyrocketed to the top five list of the best films I’ve seen so far in 2008 and may very well be the most impressive work I’ve seen all summer.
Truly under the radar, so much that a press screening wasn’t even held for Hunt’s film and it’s receiving little in the way of advertising, Frozen River, which was shot “in sub-zero weather in Plattsburgh, New York” on an HD Panasonic Varicam as noted in the press release, relied heavily on a young, energetic, and eager New York cast and crew to bring this multiple award winning labor of love to the screen.
Buoyed by a tour de force portrayal by Leo, whom Hunt encouraged “to watch John Wayne in Rio Grande,” to study the way “he does absolutely nothing but gives up everything,” (Filmmaker, 92), the film is truly a testament of the undying devotion that mothers have to provide for their children.
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