Kathryn Bigelow made history last night when she became the first woman to ever win the Academy Award for "Best Director" in 'The Hurt Locker' (2008). She is the fourth female to ever be nominated for the title—after Sofia Coppola ('Lost in Translation,' 2003), Jane Campion ('The Piano,' 1993), and Lina Wertmuller ('Seven Beauties,' 1976), the first female director nominated in Academy Award history.

In addition to this triumph were many others: 'The Hurt Locker' won "Best Picture of the Year" and "Best Original Screenplay," beating out the $2 billion grossing film, 'Avatar' (2009), by Bigelow’s ex, James Cameron. Cameron, who had received 11 wins and 3 nominations at the 1998 Academy Awards for 'Titanic' (1997), might have been surprised
by his mere 3 wins—"Best Art Direction," "Cinematography," and "Visual Effects"—especially compared to his ex-spouse’s 6 total wins.

Bigelow, 58, who has been in the industry since the late 1970s, has grown a thick skin.
Her life-guiding principle is, “If there’s specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies. It's irrelevant who or what directed a movie, the important thing is that you either respond to it or you don't. There should be more women directing; I think there's just not the awareness that it's really possible. It is” (imdb.com).

Hopefully, Bigelow’s record achievements last night will open the floodgates to many female filmmakers to come.