Of the three women to win Best Director at The Academy Awards, the first was Kathryn Bigelow. Thwarting the long-held assumption that women can’t direct popular action films, Bigelow’s work showcases excellence in execution in so-called ‘male fare’ while bringing in a visual style of her own. Often rankled at criticisms of her films’ violent topics, Bigelow notes that unpacking why people do violent acts requires portraying those acts on screen. “If there’s specific resistance to women making movies, I choose to ignore it for two reasons: I can’t change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.”