Kathryn Bigelow has become the first woman to win the DGA award for Outstanding Direction
Kathryn Bigelow has become the first woman to win the DGA award for Outstanding Direction of a Feature Film with The Hurt Locker, defeating James Cameron’s Avatar. This award makes her the frontrunner in the 2009 Oscar race.
Louie Psihoyos also won Best Documentary for The Cove, his ourstanding film which in using state-of-the-art equipment follows a group of activists, led by renown dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry to infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan and expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health. Psihoyos has been the frontrunner all year long and it seems like The Cove will likely win for Best Documentary at the Oscars.
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), James Cameron (Avatar), Lee Daniels (Precious), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), and Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) were the five nominees this year. Among those not shortlisted by DGA voters were Joel and Ethan Coen (A Serious Man), Clint Eastwood (Invictus), Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer), Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon), Jane Campion (Bright Star), Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours) and Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre).
Ricky D is the editor-in-chief of Sound on Sight and one of the hosts of the Sound On Sight podcast and the Sordid Cinema podcast. He is Sound On Sight's expert on Horror and contributes written reviews when time permits. 
The Cove is pretty upsetting to say the least. I just hope Bigelow beats our her x-husband for best director. Wouldn’t that be something!
RIGHT ON! Bigelow most definitely deserves this recognition. She’s been one of my absolute favorites for years – who can forget that backyard chase scene in Point Break?
As for The Cove, I gotta muster the courage to watch that one. Pretty grim and wrenching stuff, probably requires a few stiff drinks to stand it.