Sundance 2008 Winners

Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River, a thriller about two economically strapped women (Melissa Leo and Misty Upham, above) who turn to immigrant-smuggling at the US-Canada border, was chosen best American narrative feature at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. (In the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan calls Leo and Upham "magnificent," adding that Frozen River is a "powerful story that makes strong emotional connections.")
Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Trouble the Water, which depicts the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was the best US documentary. In Trouble the Water, New Orleans residents are forced to rely on themselves as the government that is supposed to represent them duly ignores their plight.
James Marsh’s Man on Wire won both the jury and the audience awards [...]