2009 was a major year in Oscar history. Not only was it the year they launched their expanded Best Picture category, nominating ten movies instead of the traditional five, but it also was the first time in nearly 80 years that a woman won for Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, for The Hurt Locker, which also won for Best Picture.

Always a sucker for a narrative, the Oscar campaign that year came down to Bigelow, whose film was the lowest-grosser to ever win the big prize, and her ex-husband James Cameron, whose Avatar was the highest-grossing film ever, surpassing his own Oscar-winner, Titanic. Even as a loser, Cameron still got a lot of traction out of that year.

Since Bigelow, two more women have won Best Director: Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) and Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) in consecutive years.

This article is part of a special year-long series of anecdotes, reflections and thoughts about the Academy Awards.