A while back, I gave you several reasons why I wished I could travel to Utah this year for the Sundance film festival. After the awards ceremony this past weekend, I'm really kicking myself for not finding a way to make it happen. As it turns out, one of the films I was jazzed about, Frozen River, walked away with the Grand Jury Prize for best U.S. drama. The film, written and directed by Courtney Hunt, stars one of my favorite actresses, Melissa Leo.

Frozen River tells the story of a single mother in dire need of cash who falls into a smuggling ring as a means of supporting her family. Her connection to the ring is a Mohawk woman, played by Misty Upham. And they're smuggling people, not drugs. The title comes from the fact that the ring smuggles illegal immigrants across the frozen St. Lawrence river from Canada into the U.S. Not only did the film earn the Grand Jury Prize, but it also secured a distribution deal following the Sundance showing. And based on the reviews I've read, the success of the film is due in large part to Leo and her performance in it.

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