TURNED TO DIRECTING

After finishing her law degree, Hunt enrolled in Columbia University's film school, where she began directing shorts. During a visit with her husband's family, she heard about the increasing number of Native American women on U.S. border reservations who were making smuggling runs across the St. Lawrence with cigarettes, but sometimes with people, too.

After extensive research, Hunt decided to make a short film about the the subject, hoping to secure financing for a feature-length version. To play Ray, she approached Leo when the actress made an appearance at a screening Hunt attended.

A veteran of TV and movies (she played Benicio del Toro's distraught wife in 21 Grams), Leo admits it was unusual for her to sign onto a project in such an unusual way, but there was something about Hunt that distinguished her from other wannabe filmmakers with a script tucked under their arms.

''When you work in an industry long enough, you get a sense for a certain kind of talent in people,'' Leo says. ``It differs from actors to writers to directors, but it is something that is unnameable and indescribable. I got that kind of sense from her. I took the script, and I thought the role was remarkable. It didn't matter to me that she was unknown, because I don't judge a book by its pedigree. And you can find some pretty interesting things if you keep your mind open.''

Hunt's short version of Frozen River was accepted into the New York Film Festival in 2004, which allowed Hunt to secure the budget for the longer version. Leo's performance as the relentless mother is a strong contender for an Oscar nomination. And Hunt, who is already working on her second film, is living an independent filmmaker's fairy tale, complete with a happy ending.

''Everything that is happening feels very special and surprising,'' Hunt says. ``When we were making the movie, I never thought about it in terms of what I'm going to have to do to make it. I just thought if we told a good story, something good would follow. I didn't have huge expectations. And I'm overwhelmed all the time now. I didn't know it was going to be this good.''

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