PARK CITY, Utah - A film produced by Boise's Heather Rae won the Sundance Film Festival's grand jury prize for drama.
Produced by Rae and written and directed by Courtney Hunt and set in upstate New York, "Frozen River" costars a magnificent Melissa Leo and Misty Upham as two women who face desperate economic straits and turn to smuggling illegal immigrants across the Canadian border.
Acquired at the festival by Sony Pictures Classics for $1 million, it is a powerful human story that makes strong emotional connections.
Rae made the deal with Sony late Wednesday. She told the Idaho Statesman Thursday that Miramax and Weinstein Co. were interested, but that she had been hoping Sony would pick it up.
Rae grew up in Idaho but left to pursue filmmaking. She returned in 2004 with her family to try to make a living as a filmmaker here.
She helped start the True West Cinema Festival in 2004, shot two feature films in Boise and showed her documentary "Trudell" at Sundance in 2005. She also opened the Muse Building, an artist's cooperative, in 2006.
Rae most recently produced "Out of the Blue," the documentary about the Boise State Broncos' Fiesta Bowl victory.
Sundance award-winners were announced at the festival's closing night ceremonies Saturday at the Racquet Club.
"Trouble The Water" won the award for top documentary. Co-directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, the film starts with the harrowing home movie footage that New Orleans resident Kim Roberts shot of Hurricane Katrina and evolves into a remarkable story of community resilience in the face of government indifference.
On the world cinema side, James Marsh's riveting "Man on Wire" took both the jury prize and the audience award for world documentary.
Treating French aerialist Phillipe Petit's 1974 walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center like a daring bank robbery, this exhilarating film makes you shake your head in amazement.
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