Kathryn Bigelow (Academy Awards, 2010)
Kathryn Bigelow is the first and only female director to win an Academy Award for Best Director in 2010 for The Hurt Locker. The film is an action-thriller about the Iraq War and the grueling psychological impact war has on individuals and the collective conscience of a country. Bigelow was able to intensify the visceral setting of war by collaborating with cinematographer Barry Ackroyd and utilizing multiple perspectives and camera angles to construct sophisticated battle sequences and rich montages. The Hurt Locker is considered one of the best American films about the war in Iraq and primarily draws from the real life experiences of journalist and screenwriter, Mark Boal.
The Hurt Locker earned six Academy Awards and is also the only film by a female director to win both Best Picture and Best Director in the history of cinema. The reality of that statistic is depressing but unfortunately true. While Bigelow is an incredible filmmaker, it’s also critical to recognize the importance of having a strong sense of courage and conviction when defying gender stereotypes while also addressing controversial political topics such as the Iraq War or the arduous journey of capturing al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty. By the way, Zero Dark Thirty (2012) was also nominated for five Academy Awards but received a great deal criticism from both republicans and democrats alike concerning the movie’s portrayal of torture and the Obama administration. I believe this partisan reaction robbed Bigelow from winning another Oscar but that's the reality of politics both inside and outside the Academy.
Aside from the art of cinema and directing, a crucial lesson one should learn from Bigelow's career is that in order to create change you need to be 100% committed to your passion, no apologies. Bigelow’s films would have never captured a large audience or have been recognized by the Academy if she didn’t have the confidence to execute her vision to the fullest extent. Not only is she the first and only female director to win an Academy Award, she also earned this accolade by directing a film that's typically a “man’s genre”—the action/thriller war drama.
A little background on Bigelow… she was born in San Carlos, California in 1951. Before pursuing filmmaking, she began her artistic career studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute after graduating from high school. Today, Bigelow has changed history and is known for her captivating action sequences, always believing “the action cinema is pure cinema”.