Kathryn Bigelow: Best Director, 'The Hurt Locker'

Kathryn Bigelow won a Best Director Oscar for her film, The Hurt Locker.

She made history.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kathryn Bigelow made Oscar history Sunday night, becoming the first woman to win best director at the Academy Awards for her gritty Iraq war saga "The Hurt Locker."

Bigelow's film, which also won best picture, follows the dangerous daily existence of an Army bomb defusal team. It earned six Oscars, including one for Mark Boal's original screenplay, based on his time as a journalist embedded with such a unit.

"There is no other way to describe it—it's the moment of a lifetime," Bigelow said, her voice quivering. She dedicated the award to the military men and women serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world: "May they come home safe."

Bigelow was the fourth woman nominated for the prize, following Sofia Coppola for 2003's "Lost in Translation," Jane Campion for 1993's "The Piano" and Lina Wertmuller for 1975's "Seven Beauties." She was the front runner heading into the Academy Awards.

Barbra Streisand, director of films including "Yentl" and "The Prince of Tides," walked out on stage to present the category.

"Well, the time has come," Streisand said before announcing Bigelow's win.

To be more specific, Streisand said that after she opened the envelope but before she read the winner's name aloud.

"The time has come"?

Oh, good grief.

When I saw Barbra Streisand trot out there, I knew right away the intent was to choreograph the "historic" moment, should it occur as expected.

It did occur, and there was Streisand, taking part in the supposed historic leap. Poor Babs never won an Oscar for directing. It was as if she was up there as one of the pioneers that allowed Bigelow to achieve what she has. That's ridiculous.

Bigelow is a woman. So what?

Has a woman ever deserved to win the Academy Award for Best Director but been denied solely because of her gender?

I don't think so.

I certainly hope Academy members didn't vote for Bigelow because she's female, because members decided to jump on "the time has come" bandwagon.

That would be a slap in the face to Bigelow and her talents as a director.

Women can be directors if they want to be. Nothing is stopping them.

Yes, Bigelow is the first woman to win the award. Fine. That's an answer to a movie trivia question. Remember it for a trivia quiz.

Other than that, it shouldn't be an issue.

...Bigelow had already been a pioneer for decades, having built a career making action pictures like "Point Break" and "K-19: The Widowmaker," usually male-dominated territory. But at the Directors Guild of America Awards, where she won the top honor, Bigelow said: "I suppose I like to think of myself as a filmmaker"—not a female filmmaker.

Exactly. Bigelow is a filmmaker, not a FEMALE filmmaker.

Congratulations to her for winning an Oscar.