The producers of "North Country" offered a $1,000 prize in a nationwide contest to come up with a title for the film, and the winner was a talented newcomer named Bob Dylan.

Director Niki Caro says the contest wasn't bogus; they really did have a tough time figuring out what to call the drama about female miners on the Iron Range, which was variously called "Class Action," "Untitled Niki Caro Project" and "Landmark." But they settled on "North Country," a reference to the Bob Dylan song "Girl From the North Country."

"There was something really nice about the fact that he is from Hibbing, on the Iron Range," Caro says. "But the big thing was that the way this man speaks about the human condition is so incredible. And I think that he really, profoundly loves women, so his music is a big influence on the movie."

At one point, she tried several Bruce Springsteen songs, because she's a big fan of his and because he often writes about working-class people. But Caro says the movie seemed almost to be rejecting those songs.

"When I put up Springsteen songs against our pictures, I couldn't make any of them work," Caro says. "Springsteen writes almost exclusively about the young male experience in working-class America. But you put anything by Dylan against this film and it works."

So Caro visited Dylan in New Jersey to ask about using some of his songs in the film. The two became friendly, and Dylan approved her request to use "Sweetheart Like You," "Lay Lady Lay" and other songs in the film. He also wrote a new song, "Tell Ol' Bill."

When Caro met Dylan, there was still no title for the film. "I wanted to call the film 'Landmark' for a long time," says Caro, not only because the film deals with a landmark class-action lawsuit but also because Iron Range taconite miners literally leave a mark on the land. "But the studio didn't think it was a sexy title, so I didn't get my way."

Eventually, Caro grew to like the idea of the film taking its title from a song written by the Iron Range's most famous native son. She adds that he didn't charge much for the use of his songs, which was helpful, because "North Country's" $30 million budget is not large by Hollywood standards. And, although his title technically won the name-the-movie contest, he didn't even claim the prize.