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Kathryn Bigelow, director for The Hurt Locker, holds her two Oscars - Source: Reuters -
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Iraq war movie The Hurt Locker, took the Oscars by storm winning six of the major film honours, including best director for Kathryn Bigelow who became the first woman to win that honour.
The drama about a squad of bomb defusing specialists and the emotional toll war takes on them also secured best picture, best original screenplay, film editing, sound editing and mixing.
In a true Hollywood twist, Bigelow edged out her ex-husband, Avatar filmmaker James Cameron for the best director gong. Both had been widely considered the front-runners to win the award.
Bigelow was only the fourth woman ever nominated for a best director Oscar. The previous woman nominees were Sofia Coppola, New Zealand's own Jane Campion and Lina Wertmuller.
Singer and filmmaker Barbra Streisand announced that Bigelow had
won with the words, "Well, the time has come."
After accepting the Oscar, Bigelow called it "the moment of a
lifetime."
"I'd just like to dedicate this to the women and men in the
military who risk their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and
Afghanistan and around the world, and may they come home
safe."
Women directed only 7% of the 250 top-grossing films in the US and
Canada in 2009, a figure hardly changed in more than two decades,
according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television &
Film at San Diego State University.
The Hurt Locker competed in the best picture category with Cameron's Avatar - the top-grossing movie ever and was seen as a favourite for best movie.
Avatar earned three Oscars, but in technical categories - visual effects, cinematography and art direction.
Acting awards
The acting awards were largely predictable with pre-Oscar favourites Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges taking out the lead acting awards.
Bridges, who claimed the Oscar for playing a drunken country
singer in drama Crazy Heart, held his trophy high over his head,
looking to the heavens and thanking his deceased parents.
"Mom and Dad, yeah," he shouted. "Thank you Mom and Dad for turning
me on to such a groovy profession."
In The Blind Side, Bullock took the part of a real-life,
strong-willed mother who helps take a homeless youth off the street
and makes him into a football success.
"Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you all down?" she
joked on Oscar's stage.
Dark drama Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire earned
two Oscars including supporting actress for Mo'Nique and adapted
screenplay for writer Geoffrey Fletcher, who became the first
African American to claim that honour.
Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor for his turn as a
menacing Nazi officer in revenge fantasy Inglourious Basterds,
which follows a band of American Jews killing their enemies behind
lines during World War Two.
Up was named best animated movie, and Argentina's The Secret in
Their Eyes won best foreign language film.
