As director and producer of The Hurt Locker, Bigelow became the first woman to hold both roles for a film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
At the same ceremony on March 7, 2010, The Hurt Locker was named Best Picture at the 82nd Academy Awards. As one of the film's producers as well as its director, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to both direct and produce a film that won the Academy's top prize.
This achievement compounded her historic Best Director win from earlier the same evening, giving her a rare double distinction: creative authorship (directing) combined with the executive and financial responsibility of producing, both recognized at the highest level by the Academy in the same ceremony. The producing credit underscored that Bigelow was not merely directing under someone else's vision but was a driving creative and business force behind the project from inception to distribution.
Historically, the Best Picture award has often highlighted producers rather than directors, and it was extremely rare for a single person to be credited prominently in both capacities for a winning film, let alone a woman working in the male-dominated genre of war filmmaking. This dual achievement is frequently cited alongside her Best Director win as emblematic of Bigelow's complete authorial control over her most celebrated work, and it further cemented the historic nature of the 82nd Academy Awards for women in the film industry.
Note: while extensively discussed in secondary commentary, this specific framing—first woman to direct and produce a Best Picture winner—is less formally documented by the Academy than the Best Director milestone itself.