A woman who works within the Hollywood system yet marches to the beat of her own drum. Kathryn Bigelow is the kind of filmmaker that most filmmakers in the action film world wish they could be as she displays not just a sense of style into her films but pump them up with strong actions and compelling characters that are above the norm of what is expected in the genre. In 2010, Bigelow made history as the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for her 2008 film The Hurt Locker. Though her win doesn’t change much for women’s role in the film industry nor level the playing field of having women taking control on the set of films. Bigelow has managed to be part of a small group of women filmmakers who can say something in an industry often plagued by sexism.
Born on November 27, 1951 in San Carlos, California, Bigelow was the daughter of Ronald Elliot and Gertrude Kathryn Bigelow. Though film wasn’t among her early interests, it was in painting where she found her creative outlet early on where she enrolled at the San Francisco Art Institute in late 1970. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree two years later, she moved to New York where she was part of the Whitney Museum’s Independent Art studies where she met avant-garde composer Philip Glass. Her friendship with Glass through renovating apartments for real estate ventures introduced her to film where she studied at Columbia University under the tutelage of such figures as Susan Sontag, Vito Acconci, Lawrence Weiner, and Sylvere Lotringer.
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© thevoid99 2014
We need more female auteurs like Bigelow. I didn't know she had an art background, that's cool! Oh I love Philip Glass, has she collaborated with him on her films? My fave Glass' soundtrack is The Hours.
ReplyDeleteNo, she and Glass have not done any work together on film. Maybe in her next film but I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm doing more profile on women as the next woman I'm going to do in March will be Andrea Arnold. I hope to do more in the future as I think there needs to be more visibility for these ladies.