Only 5 Women Have Been Nominated For a Best Director Oscar — Ever

The women finally scored a best director win with Bigelow's Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker. It also took home Academy Awards for best picture, best original screenplay, best film editing, best sound mixing, and best sound editing.

That year, Bigelow beat out Lee Daniels (Precious), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), and her ex-husband, James Cameron (Avatar). Cameron said at the time that a woman winning best director was "ridiculously long overdue" and added that Bigelow's movie was "consummately good filmmaking . . . she's outgunned the guys, you know, definitely."