Film Director Kathryn Bigelow Makes History

Kathryn Bigelow recently made history when she became the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar. Bigelow's movie, "The Hurt Locker," also won Best Picture and Best Screenplay. "It's a moment of a lifetime," says Bigelow. According to critics, Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" is the best war movie made in years. It's also ironic that it was up against Bigelow's ex-husbands movie, "Avatar." Both "The Hurt Locker" and sci-fi movie "Avatar" had nine nominations."The Hurt Locker" won six Oscars.

On July 11, 2010, "60 Minutes" on CBS aired a special broadcast interview with Bigelow. In the interview, Bigelow stated "There's really no difference between what I do and what a male filmmaker might do. I mean we all try to make our days, we all try to give the best performances we can, we try to make our budget, we try to make the best movie we possibly can. So in that sense it's very similar. On the other hand, I think the journey for women, no matter what venue it is - politics, business, film - it's a long journey," she said.

Bigelow makes it clear that she hates being considered a "female" director. Ex-husband James Cameron points out that "It's an irresistible story to finally be able to award the first directing Ocscar to a woman. I'm sure Kathryn will be ambivalent about this because she'll be of a mind that, wait a minute, I want to win for the work, I don't want to win because I'm a woman."

Leslie Stahl, reporter for "60 Minutes" remarked "I don't know anybody who has seen this movie who says, 'I can't believe a woman directed this movie.' The violence, the 'machoness.'" Jeremy Renner, actor who plays Sgt. James in "The Hurt Locker" responds, "What does having a set of ovaries have to do with directing the film? It's through her eyes that she sees. Not through her mammaries or anything else that defines her as a women."

"The Hurt Locker" was shot almost entirely in Jordan, a portion of it in a Palestinian refugee camp. The movie is Bigelow's eighth movie and she is 58 years old. Cameron notes, "the idea of war and conflict fascinates Bigelow. And so it's something that's out there in the world that she's trying to understand. I think she also takes pride in the fact that she can outgun the guys, you know. That just in pure technique, just pure game, she's got more game than most of the male directors out there."