Frozen River is a 2008 drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt (in her full-length directorial debut). The film stars Melissa Leo and Misty Upham as working class women who turn to illegal [...]

Frozen River is a 2008 drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt (in her full-length directorial debut). The film stars Melissa Leo and Misty Upham as working class women who turn to illegal immigrant smuggling to make ends meet.

The film won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

In an interview Hunt conducted shortly before the film's nationwide release, she gave some insight into the roots for the film's prevalent theme of a mother's love for her children being a culturally universal trait. She admitted that the most important moment in her life was the birth of her daughter and how that moment made all of her other goals in life lesser priorities. By showing how such intimacy knows no bounds, culturally or socially, Hunt said that she hoped her film would enable audiences to break down their assumptions about others around them.