Near Dark

Background:

“If there's specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies. It's irrelevant who or what directed a movie, the important thing is that you either respond to it or you don't. There should be more women directing; I think there's just not the awareness that it's really possible. It is.” Kathryn Bigelow

An American film director, writer and producer whose directorial talents stem from a background as an artist, Kathryn Bigelow has proved herself versatile with science fiction, action and horror, among other genres, on her pocket since making an impact with her solo directorial debut, the cult hit “Near Dark” (1987), from which she took home a Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film Award and a Saturn nomination. One of the leading stylists of contemporary Hollywood filmmaking, Bigelow continued to receive attention with the 1995 action flick “Strange Days,” which won the director a Saturn Award. The movie, however, was a quick bomb at the box office. Following a five-year hiatus from moviemaking, during which time she ventured into TV, Bigelow made an eminent comeback with the thriller “The Weight of Water” (2000) and netted a Film by the Sea International Film Festival Award and a San Sebastián International Film Festival nomination for her work in the movie. Other directorial credits include “Blue Steel” (1990), “K-19: The Widowmaker” (2002) and “The Hurt Locker” (2008).

Apart from her respected career as a filmmaker, The tall, statuesque and strikingly good-looking Bigelow is known personally for her short-lived marriage to Academy Award-winning director James Cameron (together from 1989 to 1991). They maintained to work together following their divorce in 1991. Bigelow also once modeled for a Gap advertisement and acted in 1983's “Born in Flames.” She has served as member of jury in several film festivals, including the 1990 Sundance Film Festival, the 1998 Venice Film Festival and the 2003 the Venice Film Festival.

Cameron's Ex

Childhood and Family:

Kathryn Ann Bigelow was born on November 27, 1951, in San Carlos, California. She is the only child of the manager of a paint store and a librarian. Katheryn developed an early interest in painting and took a formal studies at the San Fransisco Art Institute. After two years, she won an esteemed scholarship to New York's Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in 1972. Later, in 1979, she received an MFA degree from Columbia University's Film School.

On August 17, 1989, Kathryn was married to Canadian filmmaker James Cameron (born on August 16, 1954). They, however, divorced in 1991, after having been together for only two years.

The Weight of Water

Career:

Kathryn Bigelow started her creative life as a painter in her teens. After taking formal education in San Fransisco, she moved to New York City in early 1970s, where she won a scholarship to the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. She made art in a given studio in a former Offtrack Betting building and got her work criticized by the likes such as Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Serra, and Susan Sontag. Bigelow got her first professional art job when she was hired as the assistant of conceptual artist Vito Acconci, during which time her duties included filming slogans to run behind Acconci's performance parts.

As a graduate student of Columbia's film program, Bigelow had her first taste of filmmaking with “Set-Up,” a 20-minute short she directed and produced in 1978. An observation on why hostility in cinematic form is so seductive, the film brought Bigelow some notice, and after completing her studies in 1979, she was on her way pursuing a career as professional filmmaker. After serving as script supervisor of the Cannes-premiered “Union City” (1980), directed by Marcus Reichert, Bigelow joined Monty Montgomery to write and direct “The Loveless” (1982), a dreamy biker film which became star Willem Dafoe's feature debut. This project caught the attention of producer-writer-director Walter Hill, who offered Bigelow a development deal when she relocated to Los Angeles in 1983. That same year, she also could be seen acting in the Lizzie Borden film “Born in Flames,” in which she appeared as a newspaper editor.

Eventually, Bigelow made her solo directorial debut with the vampire-Western “Near Dark” (1987), which also she co-penned with Eric Red. A voguish, atmospheric tale of modern-day vampires on the Great Plains, “Near Dark” prompted the New York Museum of Modern Art to put on a “retrospective” of her short career and won the director a Silver Raven at the 1988 Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film and a Saturn nomination for Best Director. She reunited with writing partner Eric Red for her next feature, “Blue Steel” (1990). The crime/drama offered a substantial vehicle for Jamie Lee Curtis and was nominated for a Best Film at the Mystfest. The following year, she embarked on partnership with the then husband producer-writer-director James Cameron for “Point Break,” in which Cameron served as an executive producer. The film first introduced Keanu Reeves as an action star.

“If you hold a mirror up to society, and you don't like what you see, you can't fault the mirror. It's a mirror. I think that on the eve of the millennium, a point in time only four years from now, the clock is ticking, the same social issues and racial tensions still exist, the environment still needs reexamination so you don't forget it when the lights come up. 'Strange Days' is provocative. Without revealing too much, I would say that it feels like we are driving toward a highly chaotic, explosive, volatile, Armageddon-like ending. Obviously, the riot footage came out of the LA riots. I mean, I was there. I experienced that. I was part of the cleanup afterwards, so I was very aware of the environment. I mean, it really affected me. It was etched indelibly on my psyche. So obviously some of the imagery came from that. I don't like violence. I am very interested, however, in truth. And violence is a fact of our lives, a part of the social context in which we live. But other elements of the movie are love and hope and redemption. Our main character throws up after seeing this hideous experience. The toughest decision was not wanting to shy away from anything, trying to keep the truth of the moment, of the social environment. It's not that I condone violence. I don't. It's an indictment. I would say the film is cautionary, a wake-up call, and that I think is always valuable.” Kathryn Bigelow on “Strange Days”

Following the moderate success of “Point Break,” Bigelow received some joyous reviews in 1995 for “Strange Days,” which were jointly scripted by Cameron and Jay Cocks. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett and Juliette Lewis, the action/sci-fi movie was shown in such film festivals as the 1995 Venice Film Festival and New York Film Festival and won Bigelow a 1996 Best Director Saturn. Nevertheless, it immediately became a box office flop. In between “Point Break” and “Strange Days,” she made TV directing debut by helming the second hour of the sci-fi/thriller miniseries “Wild Palms” (1993), which starred James Belushi and Dana Delany.

In 1996, Bigelow found herself contributing to the script of the Eric Red-directed thriller “Undertow,” which was produced and broadcast on Showtime. She returned to the director's chair during 1998-1999 season when she was tapped to helm three episodes of the critically acclaimed NBC series “Homicide: Life on the Street.” She, however, did not revisit the feature film realm until 2000, when she directed Sarah Polley, Catherine McCormack, Sean Penn, Josh Lucas and Elizabeth Hurley in the psychological thriller “The Weight of Water,” based on a novel by Anita Shreve. Premiered at Toronto Film Festival, the project earned Bigelow rave reviews, including a citation by Variety magazine that named the film “her richest, most ambitious and personal work to date,” and a Film and Literature Award at the 2001 Film by the Sea International Film Festival as well as a nomination at the 2000 San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Next up for Bigelow, she directed “K-19: The Widowmaker” (2002), a drama about Russian submarine ambushed at the bottom of the ocean with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson starring as Alexei Vostrikov and Mikhail Polenin, respectively. Although the film was not big box office or critical success, Bigelow herself received good reception for her direction. Two years later, she could be seen directing the “Karen Sisco” episode of “He Was a Friend of Mine” (2004), and went on to helm a short film called “Mission Zero” (2007), featuring Uma Thurman.

Currently, Bigelow is directing “The Hurt Locker” (2008), a drama movie set during the Iraq war and penned by former Playboy journalist Mark Boal. It stars Brian Geraghty, Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie and features Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes as cameos. Bigelow also serves as producer for her new film.

Awards:

• Film by the Sea International Film Festival: Film and Literature Award, “The Weight of Water,” 2001

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn Award, Best Director, “Strange Days,” 1996

• Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film: Silver Raven, “Near Dark,” 1988