How many female filmmakers can you name off the top of your head?

Well, here’s my answer in no particular order:

Ida Lupino, Agnes Varda, Chantal Akerman, Lina Wurtmuller, Sofia Coppola, Catherine Breillat, Julie Dash, Penny Marshall, Claire Denis, Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers, Deepa Mehta, Barbra Streisand, Mira Nair, Allison Anders — and now the only Best Director Oscar winner, Kathryn Bigelow.

We now officially live in a world where our little girls can aspire to grow up to win statues shaped like naked men!  But in all seriousness, Bigelow is now a stellar role model to a horde the next generation of female filmmakers who can now learn that being married to someone (and then not married) is not your sole definition, that you can indeed grow older and still be a powerful, beautiful woman that inspires crushes in your fellow directors, making potent works of art.

Happy International Women’s Day Everybody!