The Hurt Locker:
The Hurt Locker is a war film following a United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team during the Iraq War directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb squad in Iraq. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty as members of a U.S. Army EOD unit in Iraq and follows their tour together as they contend with defusing bombs, the threat of insurgency, and the tension that develops among them.
The film was shot in Jordan within miles of the Iraqi border because Bigelow wanted to bring greater authenticity to the film. This benefited filming by supplying many Iraq refugees for extras and the unmistakable heat of the Middle East. The location also put a strain on the actors and crew, creating a "palpable tension". The set had few of the amenities of a traditional Hollywood set and the crew had to deal with being shot at multiple times.
It was released theatrically in Italy during 2008 when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. After being shown at the Toronto International Film Festival it was picked up for distribution in the United States by Summit Entertainment. The film was released in the United States on June 26, 2009 but received a more widespread theatrical release on July 24, 2009. Because the 2008 film was not originally released in the U.S. (at least in an Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles) until 2009, it was eligible to be judged in the 82nd Academy Awards held in 2010.
The Hurt Locker earned numerous awards and honors from critics' organizations, festivals and groups. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won six; this includes Best Picture (making The Hurt Locker the lowest-grossing film to ever win the award) and Best Director for Bigelow (the first woman to do so). The film also swept the 2010 BAFTA Awards, winning Best Film, director, original screenplay, Editing, Cinematography and Sound.