Oscar ‘09: “Frozen River”‘s Courtney Hunt

What prompted the idea for this film and how did it evolve?

In film school, I often heard the complaint that “women’s films”  lacked adventure and this drove me crazy. I grew up with a single mom, who was working and struggling through school and, frankly, paying the rent was an adventure. I first came upon the idea for “Frozen River” when I learned about Canadian-border smuggling on a visit to my husband’s family in Malone, New York.  There are several Indian Reservations that straddle the border and this creates an odd jurisdictional situation. When I discovered than some of the Native women were doing the smuggling and that they did it by driving their cars across the frozen St. Lawrence River, I was fascinated. I met two women smugglers back when they were running cigarettes. However, when the cigarette tax in Canada was lowered, some smugglers switched to illegal immigrants, often Chinese and Pakistani people who wanted to come to the U.S. via Canada, which is easier to get it into.

A scene from Courtney Hunt’s “Frozen River.” Image courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival.

I wrote the script, over time, when I felt I knew the characters well enough.  Then, James Schamus brought “21 Grams” to this little film festival in my town and I met Melissa Leo. I’m a little shy, but her performance in that film was so beautiful that I went up to her and told her so. I sent her a script and she agreed to do my short of “Frozen River.” It got in to the New York Film Festival and that gave me the inspiration to develop the feature script. Both Melissa and Misty Upham (who plays Lila) were so compelling in the short that I could not imagine the feature without them. And they stuck by me.

Then I got Chip Hourihan, a numbers maven, to rough out a budget and I approached Heather Rae, a wonderful creative producer, to come on the project. But, there was no money to be found, so my husband wrote a prospectus and circulated it. With the short to show people, he was able to attract several intrepid investors.

Please elaborate a bit on your approach to making the film

I like characters that are not immediately appealing and that live in the margins of the culture. I like living with them in the intimacy of a cinema long enough to at least understand them, maybe even grow to love them. I think of films like “Central Station,” “Badlands,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “Nights of Cabiria.”

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in developing the project?

Early on, the biggest challenge was breaking though the notion that smuggling only occurs on the Mexican border. Once in production, the biggest challenge was the weather. We shot in Plattsburgh, New York, last February and a huge portion of the movie takes place outside, at night. The cast and crew were in a bit of shock the first few days, when it was below zero, but we all adjusted and I think the cast and crew felt good about what we were making and so they were very brave about the cold.

What are some of your recent favorite films?

I loved “Babel,” I loved “Crash,” anything that messes around with point of view. The world is so complex now - and I think we are just coming to know this as Americans - and movies are a powerful way to get to know people beyond our own borders, whether those borders are national, economic or cultural.

How do you define success as a filmmaker? What are your personal goals as a filmmaker going forward?

I think my job is to give the filmgoer a look at someone they might not otherwise notice. My goal is to make another film, and another. When I realized I was going to be a late bloomer as a director, I just kept on writing so I have a few things lined up.

Please tell us about any upcoming projects?

My next film is about a girl in 1904. It takes place on the Lower East Side and is a love story, in the world of immigrants who lived there, block by block, at that time. It also deals with the racism and anti-Semitism of that period .  I want to shoot it on the cheap. I want it to feel small scale and real, like “Frozen River.”