We're going to be more interested than usual in the Academy Awards this year, because two friends of Rural Intelligence, whom we featured last year, have a big stake in the outcome: Courtney Hunt, the director of Frozen River (which closed last year's Berkshire International Film Festival) and Carolyn Blackwood, the producer of The Duchess. Hunt is up for best original screenplay (against Happy-Go-Lucky, Milk, In Bruges, WALL-E) and her star, Melissa Leo, was nominated for best actresss (along with Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, and Meryl Streep, who's also a local and lives under the radar in Salisbury, CT.) The Duchess is up for best costume design and best art direction. Does anyone still need proof that the Rural Intelligence Region is a hothouse of creativity?
