Kathryn Bigelow
Encyclopedia
Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director
. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark
(1987), the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break
(1991), the science fiction/film noir Strange Days
(1995), the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water
(2000) and the war drama The Hurt Locker
(2008). The Hurt Locker won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture
, won the BAFTA Award for Best Film
, and was nominated for the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Drama.
With The Hurt Locker, Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director, the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing, the BAFTA Award for Best Direction
, and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Director.
In April 2010, Bigelow was named to the Time 100
list of most influential people of the year.
, United States
, the only child of a paint factory manager and a librarian. Her early creative endeavors were as a student of painting. She enrolled at San Francisco Art Institute
in the fall of 1970 and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts
in December 1972. While enrolled at SFAI, she was accepted into the Whitney Museum of American Art
's Independent Study scholarship program in New York City
.
Bigelow entered the graduate film program at Columbia University
, where she studied theory and criticism and earned her master's degree. Her professors included Vito Acconci
, Sylvère Lotringer
and Susan Sontag
, and she worked with the Art & Language
collective and noted conceptualist
Lawrence Weiner
. She also taught at the California Institute of the Arts
.
Sylvère Lotringer
and Marshall Blonsky deconstruct
the images in voice-over." Her first full-length feature was The Loveless
(1982), a biker movie which she co-directed with Monty Montgomery and featured Willem Dafoe
in his first starring role. Next, she directed Near Dark
(1987), which she co-scripted with Eric Red
. In the same year, she directed a music video for the New Order
song "Touched by the Hand of God
"; the video is a spoof of glam metal
imagery.
Eric Red was also co-writer on Bigelow's 1990 film, Blue Steel
. Blue Steel starred Jamie Lee Curtis
as a rookie police officer who is stalked by a psychopathic killer, played by Ron Silver
.
Bigelow followed Blue Steel with Point Break
(1991), which starred Keanu Reeves
as an FBI agent who poses as a surfer to catch the "Ex-Presidents", a team of surfing armed robbers led by Patrick Swayze
who wear Reagan, Nixon, LBJ and Jimmy Carter masks when they hold up banks. In 1993, she directed an episode of the TV series Wild Palms
.
Bigelow's 1995 film Strange Days
was written and produced by her ex-husband James Cameron
. She directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street
in 1997 and 1998.
Based on Anita Shreve
's novel of the same name
, Bigelow's 2000 film The Weight of Water
is a portrait of two women trapped in suffocating relationships. The film is a departure in some ways for Bigelow in that it lacks the kinetic action and technical dazzle of her previous films.
In 2002 she directed K-19: The Widowmaker
, starring Harrison Ford
and Liam Neeson
, about a group of men aboard the Soviet Union's first nuclear powered submarine. Despite an action-packed storyline, the film tanked at the box office and was received with mixed reactions by critics, gaining an aggregate score of 58 on Metacritic
.
Bigelow next directed The Hurt Locker
, which was first shown at the Venice Film Festival
in September 2008 and released in the US in June 2009. It qualified for the 2010 Oscars
as it did not premiere in an Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles until mid-2009. Set in post-invasion Iraq, the film received "universal acclaim" (according to Metacritic
) and a 97% "fresh" rating from the "Top Critics" of Rotten Tomatoes
. The film stars Jeremy Renner
, Brian Geraghty
and Anthony Mackie
, with cameos by Guy Pearce
, David Morse
and Ralph Fiennes
. She won the Directors Guild of America
award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
(becoming the first woman to win the award) and also received a Golden Globe nomination for her direction. In 2010, she won the award for Best Director and The Hurt Locker won Best Picture at the 63rd British Academy Film Awards
. She became the first woman to receive an Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. She is the fourth woman in history to be nominated for the honor, and only the second American woman.
advertisement. Her acting credits include Lizzie Borden's
1983 film Born in Flames
as a feminist newspaper editor, and as the leader of a cowgirl gang in the 1988 music video of Martini Ranch's
"Reach", which was directed by her ex-husband, James Cameron.
from 1989 to 1991. She and Cameron were both nominated for Best Director at the 2010 82nd Academy Awards
, which Bigelow won.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark
Near Dark
Near Dark is an American vampire/Western horror film, written by Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow, and directed by Bigelow. The story follows a young man in a small midwestern town who becomes involved with a family of nomadic American vampires...
(1987), the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break
Point Break
Point Break is a 1991 action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term point break, where a wave breaks as it hits a point of land jutting out from the coastline.The film was a box office success upon...
(1991), the science fiction/film noir Strange Days
Strange Days (film)
Strange Days is a 1995 cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and produced and co-written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott and Vincent D'Onofrio. Despite positive reviews, the film was a...
(1995), the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water
The Weight of Water (film)
The Weight of Water is a 2000 film based on the novel of the same name by Anita Shreve. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film stars Sean Penn, Elizabeth Hurley, Sarah Polley, Josh Lucas and Catherine McCormack...
(2000) and the war drama The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb...
(2008). The Hurt Locker won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, won the BAFTA Award for Best Film
BAFTA Award for Best Film
This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
, and was nominated for the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Drama.
With The Hurt Locker, Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director, the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing, the BAFTA Award for Best Direction
BAFTA Award for Best Direction
Winners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours...
, and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Director.
In April 2010, Bigelow was named to the Time 100
Time 100
Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...
list of most influential people of the year.
Early life and education
Bigelow was born in San Carlos, CaliforniaSan Carlos, California
San Carlos is a city in San Mateo County, California, USA on the San Francisco Peninsula, about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose. It is an affluent small residential suburb located between Belmont to the north and Redwood City to the south. San Carlos' ZIP code is 94070, and it is within...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the only child of a paint factory manager and a librarian. Her early creative endeavors were as a student of painting. She enrolled at San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
in the fall of 1970 and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in December 1972. While enrolled at SFAI, she was accepted into the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
's Independent Study scholarship program in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Bigelow entered the graduate film program at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where she studied theory and criticism and earned her master's degree. Her professors included Vito Acconci
Vito Acconci
Vito Hannibal Acconci is a Bronx, New York-born, Brooklyn-based designer, landscape architect, performance and installation artist.-Education:...
, Sylvère Lotringer
Sylvère Lotringer
Sylvère Lotringer is a literary critic and cultural theorist. A younger contemporary of Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Jean Baudrillard, Paul Virilio and Michel Foucault, he is best known for synthesizing French theory with American literary, cultural and architectural avant-garde movements...
and Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, feminist and political activist whose works include On Photography and Against Interpretation.-Life:...
, and she worked with the Art & Language
Art & Language
Art & Language is a shifting collaboration among conceptual artists that has undergone many changes since its inception in the late 1960s. Their early work, as well as their journal Art-Language, first published in 1969, is regarded as an important influence on much conceptual art both in the...
collective and noted conceptualist
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
Lawrence Weiner
Lawrence Weiner
Lawrence Weiner was a central figure in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s His work often takes the form of typographic texts.- Life and career :...
. She also taught at the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
.
Directing career
Bigelow's first short film, The Set-Up (1978), is a 20-minute deconstruction of violence in film. The film portrays "two men fighting each other as the semioticiansSemiotics
Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...
Sylvère Lotringer
Sylvère Lotringer
Sylvère Lotringer is a literary critic and cultural theorist. A younger contemporary of Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Jean Baudrillard, Paul Virilio and Michel Foucault, he is best known for synthesizing French theory with American literary, cultural and architectural avant-garde movements...
and Marshall Blonsky deconstruct
Deconstruction
Deconstruction is a term introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1967 book Of Grammatology. Although he carefully avoided defining the term directly, he sought to apply Martin Heidegger's concept of Destruktion or Abbau, to textual reading...
the images in voice-over." Her first full-length feature was The Loveless
The Loveless
The Loveless is a 1982 drama outlaw biker film written and directed by Kathryn Bigelow and Monty Montgomery. It is an independent film and stars Willem Dafoe and musician Robert Gordon, who also did the music for the film. It tells the story of a motorcycle gang that causes trouble in a small...
(1982), a biker movie which she co-directed with Monty Montgomery and featured Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
in his first starring role. Next, she directed Near Dark
Near Dark
Near Dark is an American vampire/Western horror film, written by Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow, and directed by Bigelow. The story follows a young man in a small midwestern town who becomes involved with a family of nomadic American vampires...
(1987), which she co-scripted with Eric Red
Eric Red
Eric Red is an American screenwriter and director, best known for writing the horror films The Hitcher and Near Dark.-Early life:...
. In the same year, she directed a music video for the New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
song "Touched by the Hand of God
Touched by the Hand of God
"Touched by the Hand of God" was a single released by New Order in December 1987. The song had originally appeared on the soundtrack to the film Salvation! and the version released as a single was remixed by Arthur Baker. The B-side was a dub remix, titled "Touched by the Hand of Dub" and the...
"; the video is a spoof of glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
imagery.
Eric Red was also co-writer on Bigelow's 1990 film, Blue Steel
Blue Steel (1990 film)
Blue Steel is a 1990 action thriller film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver and Clancy Brown.-Plot:Megan Turner is a rookie New York City policewoman who shoots and kills a suspect with her police-issue .38 Special Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver while he's...
. Blue Steel starred Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
as a rookie police officer who is stalked by a psychopathic killer, played by Ron Silver
Ron Silver
Ronald Arthur "Ron" Silver was an American actor, director, producer, radio host and political activist.-Early life:...
.
Bigelow followed Blue Steel with Point Break
Point Break
Point Break is a 1991 action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term point break, where a wave breaks as it hits a point of land jutting out from the coastline.The film was a box office success upon...
(1991), which starred Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
as an FBI agent who poses as a surfer to catch the "Ex-Presidents", a team of surfing armed robbers led by Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...
who wear Reagan, Nixon, LBJ and Jimmy Carter masks when they hold up banks. In 1993, she directed an episode of the TV series Wild Palms
Wild Palms
Wild Palms is a six-hour mini-series, which first aired in May 1993 on the ABC network in the United States. Written by Bruce Wagner, who was also the executive producer, Wild Palms was a sci-fi drama about the dangers of brainwashing through technology and drugs...
.
Bigelow's 1995 film Strange Days
Strange Days (film)
Strange Days is a 1995 cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and produced and co-written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott and Vincent D'Onofrio. Despite positive reviews, the film was a...
was written and produced by her ex-husband James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
. She directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
in 1997 and 1998.
Based on Anita Shreve
Anita Shreve
Anita Shreve is an American writer. The daughter of an airline pilot and a homemaker, she graduated from Dedham High School, attended Tufts University and began writing while working as a high school teacher in Reading MA. One of her first published stories, Past the Island, Drifting, was awarded...
's novel of the same name
The Weight of Water
The Weight of Water is a 1997 bestselling novel by Anita Shreve. Half of the novel is historical fiction that speculates about the true events of the Smuttynose Island murders of 1873.-Plot summary:...
, Bigelow's 2000 film The Weight of Water
The Weight of Water (film)
The Weight of Water is a 2000 film based on the novel of the same name by Anita Shreve. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film stars Sean Penn, Elizabeth Hurley, Sarah Polley, Josh Lucas and Catherine McCormack...
is a portrait of two women trapped in suffocating relationships. The film is a departure in some ways for Bigelow in that it lacks the kinetic action and technical dazzle of her previous films.
In 2002 she directed K-19: The Widowmaker
K-19: The Widowmaker
K-19: The Widowmaker is a movie released on July 19, 2002, about the first of many disasters that befell the Soviet submarine of the same name. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow...
, starring Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
and Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
, about a group of men aboard the Soviet Union's first nuclear powered submarine. Despite an action-packed storyline, the film tanked at the box office and was received with mixed reactions by critics, gaining an aggregate score of 58 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
Bigelow next directed The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb...
, which was first shown at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
in September 2008 and released in the US in June 2009. It qualified for the 2010 Oscars
82nd Academy Awards
The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2009 and took place March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled well after...
as it did not premiere in an Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles until mid-2009. Set in post-invasion Iraq, the film received "universal acclaim" (according to Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
) and a 97% "fresh" rating from the "Top Critics" of Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. The film stars Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Lee Renner is a two-time Academy-Award-nominated American actor and musician. Renner appeared in films throughout the 2000s, mostly in supporting roles. He came to prominence in films such as Dahmer , S.W.A.T. , Neo Ned , 28 Weeks Later and The Hurt Locker...
, Brian Geraghty
Brian Geraghty
Brian Timothy Geraghty is an American film and television actor, best known for his role in the Academy Award winning film The Hurt Locker.-Early life:Geraghty was born in Toms River Township, New Jersey, and is of Irish ancestry...
and Anthony Mackie
Anthony Mackie
Anthony Mackie is an American actor. He has been featured in feature films, television series and Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Drowning Crow, McReele, A Soldier's Play, and Talk, by Carl Hancock Rux, for which he won an Obie Award in 2002.In 2002 he featured...
, with cameos by Guy Pearce
Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A...
, David Morse
David Morse (actor)
David Bowditch Morse is an American stage, television, and film actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988...
and Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
. She won the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Feature Film
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures is one of the annual awards given by Directors Guild of America.-1940s:* 1948: Joseph L...
(becoming the first woman to win the award) and also received a Golden Globe nomination for her direction. In 2010, she won the award for Best Director and The Hurt Locker won Best Picture at the 63rd British Academy Film Awards
63rd British Academy Film Awards
The 63rd British Academy Film Awards, hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, took place on 21 February 2010 and honoured the best films of 2009. The Hurt Locker took home the most awards, receiving 6 BAFTAS...
. She became the first woman to receive an Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. She is the fourth woman in history to be nominated for the honor, and only the second American woman.
Other work
In the early 1980s, Bigelow modeled for a GapGap (clothing retailer)
The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...
advertisement. Her acting credits include Lizzie Borden's
Lizzie Borden (filmmaker)
Lizzie Borden is an American filmmaker. Originally named Linda Elizabeth Borden, she took on the name of the American folklore figure Lizzie Borden in the early 1970s....
1983 film Born in Flames
Born in Flames
Born in Flames is a 1983 documentary-style feminist science fiction film by Lizzie Borden that explores racism, classism, sexism and heterosexism in an alternative United States Socialist Democracy.-Plot:...
as a feminist newspaper editor, and as the leader of a cowgirl gang in the 1988 music video of Martini Ranch's
Martini Ranch
Martini Ranch is a new wave band conceived in 1982 by Andrew Todd Rosenthal. The band was composed of Andrew and actor Bill Paxton , and featured a similar sound to late 1980s Devo. The Martini Ranch track "How Can the Labouring Man Find Time for Self-Culture?" featured three members of Devo...
"Reach", which was directed by her ex-husband, James Cameron.
Personal life
Bigelow was married to fellow director James CameronJames Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
from 1989 to 1991. She and Cameron were both nominated for Best Director at the 2010 82nd Academy Awards
82nd Academy Awards
The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2009 and took place March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled well after...
, which Bigelow won.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | The Loveless The Loveless The Loveless is a 1982 drama outlaw biker film written and directed by Kathryn Bigelow and Monty Montgomery. It is an independent film and stars Willem Dafoe and musician Robert Gordon, who also did the music for the film. It tells the story of a motorcycle gang that causes trouble in a small... |
Director Film director A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:... /Writer Screenwriter Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:... |
|
| 1983 | Born in Flames Born in Flames Born in Flames is a 1983 documentary-style feminist science fiction film by Lizzie Borden that explores racism, classism, sexism and heterosexism in an alternative United States Socialist Democracy.-Plot:... |
Actress | |
| 1987 | Near Dark Near Dark Near Dark is an American vampire/Western horror film, written by Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow, and directed by Bigelow. The story follows a young man in a small midwestern town who becomes involved with a family of nomadic American vampires... |
Director/Writer | Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival , previously named Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film was created in 1983 as a venue for horror, thriller and science fiction films. It takes place in Brussels, every year in March... - Silver Raven Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Direction Saturn Award for Best Direction The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Direction:-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 5 awards*Steven Spielberg - 4 awards*Peter Jackson - 3 awards*Bryan Singer - 2 awards... |
| 1988 | Reach Reach - Companies and organizations :* Reach Global Services Ltd, a company operating a large cable network in Asia Pacific* Reach for the Top, a Canadian high-school trivia competition* Reach Canada, a NGO in Canada, that help people with disabilities... |
Actress | Music Video |
| 1989 | Blue Steel Blue Steel (1990 film) Blue Steel is a 1990 action thriller film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver and Clancy Brown.-Plot:Megan Turner is a rookie New York City policewoman who shoots and kills a suspect with her police-issue .38 Special Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver while he's... |
Director/Writer | |
| 1991 | Point Break Point Break Point Break is a 1991 action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term point break, where a wave breaks as it hits a point of land jutting out from the coastline.The film was a box office success upon... |
Director | |
| 1995 | Strange Days Strange Days (film) Strange Days is a 1995 cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and produced and co-written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott and Vincent D'Onofrio. Despite positive reviews, the film was a... |
Director | Saturn Award for Best Direction Saturn Award for Best Direction The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Direction:-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 5 awards*Steven Spielberg - 4 awards*Peter Jackson - 3 awards*Bryan Singer - 2 awards... |
| 2000 | The Weight of Water The Weight of Water (film) The Weight of Water is a 2000 film based on the novel of the same name by Anita Shreve. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film stars Sean Penn, Elizabeth Hurley, Sarah Polley, Josh Lucas and Catherine McCormack... |
Director | Nominated — San Sebastián International Film Festival San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953... Golden Shell Golden Shell The Golden Shell is the highest prize given to a competing film at the San Sebastián Film Festival. It was introduced in 1957. In 1953 and 1954, the highest prize had been called the Gran Premio. In 1955 and 1956 it was replaced by the Silver Shell... Award |
| 2002 | K-19: The Widowmaker K-19: The Widowmaker K-19: The Widowmaker is a movie released on July 19, 2002, about the first of many disasters that befell the Soviet submarine of the same name. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow... |
Director/Producer Film producer A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The... |
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| 2009 | The Hurt Locker The Hurt Locker The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb... |
Director/Producer | Academy Award for Best Director Academy Award for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... AFI Dallas Film Festival - Dallas Star Award Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Director Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Woman Director Austin Film Critics Association Austin Film Critics Association The Austin Film Critics Association is an organization of film critics from Austin, Texas.Each year, the AFCA votes on their end of year awards for films released in the same calendar year... Award for Best Director Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director - 1980s :- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010s :- Trivia :* Most wins:** 3: Steven Spielberg... British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:... Award for Best Film BAFTA Award for Best Film This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards... British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:... Award for Best Direction BAFTA Award for Best Direction Winners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-2010s:* 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network** Tom Hooper – The King's Speech** Danny Boyle – 127 Hours... Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Film Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Chicago Film Critics Association Chicago Film Critics Association The Chicago Film Critics Association is an American film critic association.-Members:Current members include:*Sarah Knight Adamson*Zbigniew Banas*Shelley Cameron*Dave Canfield*Vittorio Carli*Erik Childress*Camerin Courtney*Bonnie DeShong... Award for Best Director Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Director The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Director is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:... Columbia University - "Andrew Sarris" Award Denver Film Critics Society Denver Film Critics Society The Denver Film Critics Society is an organization of film critics based in Denver, Colorado. -2009 Winners and Nominees:Best Film*The Hurt Locker**A Serious Man**Star Trek**Up in the AirBest Director... Award for Best Director Directors Guild of America Directors Guild of America Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry... Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Hollywood Film Festival Hollywood Film Festival The Hollywood Film Festival is an annual Film festival which is located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Festival was established in 1997 by Carlos de Abreu and his wife, model Janice Pennington.... for Director of the Year Houston Film Critics Society Houston Film Critics Society The Houston Film Critics Society is a film critic organization in Houston, Texas, United States. The group presents an annual set of film awards for "extraordinary accomplishment in film" in a ceremony held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston... Award for Best Director Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director Steven Spielberg holds the record for most wins: 6 . Peter Jackson won an award for each and every film of The Lord of the Rings-trilogy.-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:*... Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Director Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Director The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Director is one of the annual awards given by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director This is the complete list of the winners of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... London Film Critics Circle Award for Director of the Year London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director The London Film Critics Circle Award for Director of the Year in an annual award given by the London Film Critics' Circle.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director is an annual award given by National Society of Film Critics to honor the best film director of the year.... New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honour the finest achievements in filmmaking.... New York Film Critics Online New York Film Critics Online The New York Film Critics Online is an organization composed of Internet film critics based in New York City. The group meets once a year, in December, for voting on its annual NYFCO Awards.-Awards:*New York Film Critics Online Awards 2003... Award for Best Director Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director is one of the annual film awards given by the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle.-2000s:-2010s:... Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Director Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Director The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Director is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best director of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Producers Guild of America Award Producers Guild of America Award The Producers Guild of America Award was originally established in 1990 as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor the visionaries who produce and execute motion picture and television product... for Theatrical Motion Pictures San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director The San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director is one of the award given by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-2000s:-2010s:... Santa Barbara International Film Festival Santa Barbara International Film Festival The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a film festival and non-profit organization, established in 1985, that showcases independent American and international films. The SBIFF line-up includes 20 world premieres and 11 U.S. premieres, with newly expanded 11-day festival... Award for Outstanding Director of the Year Satellite Award for Best Director Satellite Award for Best Director The Satellite Award for Best Director is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010s :... Seattle International Film Festival Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees... Golden Space Needle Award for Best Director Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Director The Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Director is an annual film award given by the Southeastern Film Critics Association to honor the best film director of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Director St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Director The St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Director is one of the annual awards given by the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association.-2000s:-2010s:... Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director The Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director is an annual award given by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.-2000s:-2010s:... Venice Film Festival Venice Film Festival The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the... SIGNIS SIGNIS SIGNIS is a Roman Catholic lay ecclesial movement for professionals in the communication media, including radio, television, cinema, video, media education, Internet and new technology. It is a non-profit organization with representation from over 140 countries... Grand Prize Award Venice Film Festival Arca Cinemagiovani Award Venice Film Festival Young Cinema Award Venice Film Festival Human Rights Film Network Award Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association is a group of film critics based out of Washington, D.C., United States that was founded in 2003. WAFCA is composed of 34 DC-based film critics from television, radio, print and the internet... Award for Best Director |
| 2012 | Untitled Osama Bin Laden film | Director/Producer |
Television
- Karen SiscoKaren SiscoKaren Sisco is a television series about a fictional United States Marshal created by novelist Elmore Leonard.As a U.S. Deputy Marshal, based on Miami, Florida's Gold Coast, Karen must deal with the underbelly of South Beach nightlife and Palm Beach highlife while tracking down fugitives. She also...
(2004) TV series- Episode # 10: "He Was a Friend of Mine"
- Homicide: Life on the StreetHomicide: Life on the StreetHomicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
(1993–99) TV series- Episodes: "Fallen HeroesHomicide: Life on the Street (season 6)The sixth season of Homicide: Life on the Street aired in the United States on the NBC television network from 1997-10-17 to 1998-05-08 and contained 23 episodes....
" Parts 1 & 2, "Lines of FireHomicide: Life on the Street (season 7)The seventh season of Homicide: Life on the Street aired in the United States on the NBC television network from 1998-09-25 to 1999-05-21 and contained 22 episodes....
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- Episodes: "Fallen Heroes
- Wild PalmsWild PalmsWild Palms is a six-hour mini-series, which first aired in May 1993 on the ABC network in the United States. Written by Bruce Wagner, who was also the executive producer, Wild Palms was a sci-fi drama about the dangers of brainwashing through technology and drugs...
(1993) TV miniseries- Episode # 3: "Rising Sons"
External links
- June 2009 Interview with The A.V. ClubThe A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
- Q&A with Kathryn Bigelow in Men's Journal
- Kathryn Bigelow on Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
- Literature on Kathryn Bigelow