a mother's love for her children being a culturally universal trait. She stated the most important moment in her life was the birth of her daughter and how that event made all her other goals lesser priorities. By showing how such intimacy knows no bounds, culturally or socially, Hunt said she hoped her film would enable audiences to break down their assumptions about others around them. Hunt's husband is from Malone, New York. Whenever the two visited his family they heard stories about Mohawks smuggling cigarettes by driving across the Saint Lawrence River when it freezes. She thought the concept was an interesting subject for a film but had a hard time getting any financial backers because so few people knew about the issue. She met cinematographer Marc Blandori and actress Melissa Leo at the FilmColumbia 2003 Film Festival in Chatham, New York and both agreed to join the project, which prompted some interest from investors. The first effort was a short film shot at Akwesasne near Massena, New York. Hunt showed it at several festival screenings and shopped it to producers until she finally acquired enough funding for a feature film. Frozen River was shot in sub-freezing temperatures on location in Clinton County and Beekmantown and in the area around Plattsburgh over a period of twenty-four days in March 2007. Release The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was shown at the MoMA Film Exhibition, the Seattle International Film Festival, the Provincetown International Film Festival, the Nantucket Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, and the Traverse City Film Festival. Sony Pictures Classics paid $500,000 for the rights to distribute the film in North America and some other territories . The film eventually grossed $2,511,476 in limited theatrical release in the United States and $2,621,734 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $5,133,210. Critical reception Critical reception for the film was very positive. Frozen River has an approval rating of 88% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 135 reviews, and an average rating of 7.31/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Veteran character actress Melissa Leo delivers a stunning performance in this powerful -- if grim -- indie film". It also has a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The film appeared on many lists citing the best films of 2008, including those in