'The Hurt Locker' Wins Big at Academy Awards

Kathryn Bigelow. Photo courtesy of INFDaily.com

Avatar gets taken down.

The Hurt Locker had a historic night on Sunday. Not only did it beat out James Cameron's Avatar, the highest-grossing film of all time, for Best Picture, but director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to ever win the Best Director award.

The past week has been a bumpy ride for the little war movie. First a producer got banned from the Oscars for breaking Academy rules, and then producers were reportedly handed a lawsuit from a soldier who says the film is based on his life.

Still, the film managed to have a huge night at the Academy Awards with 6 wins. Besides the night's two top awards (Best Director and Best Film), The Hurt Locker also snagged awards for Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.

"There's no other way to describe it," said Kathryn Bigelow, after becoming the first woman in the 82-year history of the Oscars to win the Best Director award.

"It's the moment of a lifetime," she said. "It's so extraordinary to be in the company of my fellow nominees, such powerful filmmakers, who have inspired me and I have admired, some of them for decades."

She concluded her speech with a dedication to the people at the heart of her film: the troops fighting overseas.

"I'd just like to dedicate this to the women and men of the military who risk their lives every day in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world. May they come home safe."