On this day in 2010: First female best director Oscar
Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Academy Award for best director, for The Hurt Locker, about an American bomb squad that disables explosives in Iraq in 2004.
Prior to Bigelow, only three women had been nominated for a best director Oscar: Lina Wertmueller for 1975’s Seven Beauties, Jane Campion for 1993’s The Piano and Sofia Coppola for 2003’s Lost in Translation.
At the 82nd Academy Awards in March 2010, Bigelow’s fellow best-director nominees included James Cameron (Avatar), whom she was married to from 1989 to 1991, along with Lee Daniels (Precious), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) and Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds).
After making history by winning the directing prize, Bigelow said: “I hope I’m the first of many [women], and of course, I’d love to just think of myself as a filmmaker. And I long for the day when that modifier can be a moot point.”
The Hurt Locker, which starred Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, also won Oscars for best picture, film editing, sound editing, sound mixing and original screenplay.
Pic: Corbis
