First Female Oscar Winning Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Film directing has always been a man's job. In the wonderful world of cinema there have hardly been female directors who have managed to break the barriers of the male dominated profession of film directing and demonstrate exceptional abilities on film shooting. All this until Barbra Streisand in the 82^nd Academy Awards acknowledged "It's about time" inviting Kathryn Bigelow on the Kodak Theater stage to become the first female Oscar wining director for "The Hurt Locker".

"The Hurt Locker" is based on the freelance screenwriting of Mark Boal, who deals with the duties of the U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team during the Iraq War. Although the film is low-budget, it managed to overpower the 3D blockbuster "Avatar", not only with Bigelow's triumph, but also with a total of six Academy Awards, including that of Best Picture and of Best Original Screenplay.

Bigelow holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute and a Master's Degree from Columbia University in film theory and criticism. While studying at SFAI she enrolled in the Whitney Museum of American Art's Independent Study scholarship program in New York City.

Bigelow's short directing career after graduating from Columbia University has always been related to issues of violence and tension. Her first shot film, "The Set-Up" (1978) is a deconstruction of violence that manages in 20 minutes to expose deep-rooted contradictions by investigating below the surface meaning of violence. In her first full-length film, "The Loveless" (1982), Bigelow was the co-director with Monty Montgomery introducing Willem Dafoe in his first starring role. Other works include the horror film "Near Dark" (1987) that Bigelow directed and co-scripted with Eric Red; "Blue Steel" (1990) starring Jamie Lee Curtis; the action film "Point Break" (1991) starring Keanu Reeves; "Strange Days" (1995); the mystery picture "The Weight of Water" (2000); and "K-19: The Widowmaker" (2002) starring Harrison Ford. Bigelow also directed the video clip for the track of New Order, "Touched by the Hand of God" (1987).

For her success in "The Hurt Locker", Kathryn Bigelow believes that directing is closely related to casting. When a director has the right actor for the right part, things happen naturally. Actors embody their characters and the director can focus on the ambiguities in the character rather on the character per se. Bigelow was fortunate to work with three awesome new actors, Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty, who were all open, accessible and ready to translate into art what Bigelow had in her mind for a political film like "The Hurt Locker." Moreover, Bigelow praises Mark Boal for giving her the opportunity to work on a great scenario and produce a magnificent project.

Since 2002, Bigelow returned in 2009 with an overwhelming film that granted her rave reviews and earned her an Oscar Award. Kathryn Bigelow has obviously found her paths in directing and being the first female director to have ever captured an Oscar Award opens the road for better projects from her, but also from other female directors. There is a lot of room for more talented and proficient directors in Hollywood; and Hollywood needs these directors, no doubt about that.

Sources:

http://www.hotzoneonline.com/archives/2877

http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/2010/03/07/oscar-2010-kathryn-bigelow-first-female-director-win/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hurt_Locker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Bigelow