Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker wins top US film award

The looming Oscar battle between husband and (ex-) wife directors James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow just got a lot more interesting after the Producers Guild of America (PGA) gave its top film award on Sunday night to Bigelow's The Hurt Locker. Bigelow directed the film but was able to collect the award as one of the film's four producers.

No one doubts that Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar and his former wife's film about a US army bomb disposal unit in Iraq will both figure prominently when the Oscar nominations are revealed next week. And many Hollywood-watchers believe that when it comes down to the Academy members voting for the two key Oscars - best picture and best director - the choice will be between these two films.

At the recent Golden Globes, Cameron was the big winner, taking best drama and best director. But many feel that while Avatar was a technological and commercial sensation - it is due to overtake Titanic any day now as the biggest money-spinner in history - The Hurt Locker displays greater directorial skills.

The fact that the PGA rated it film of the year will give Bigelow and her supporters grounds for hope. Six of the past nine top prize winners at the PGAs went on to win the best picture Oscar.

To be fair to Cameron, he has always professed himself to be one of his former wife's biggest fans. He and Bigelow were married for only a short time in 1989-91 and their break-up was amicable to the point that he has since helped her get her films made.

As for pointers towards the acting Oscars, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards on Saturday night went the same way as the Golden Globes - with Jeff Bridges picking up best actor for Crazy Heart and Sandra Bullock chosen as best actress for The Blind Side.

British film-goers will be able to see their performances when Crazy Heart comes to the UK on February 19 and The Blind Side opens here on March 12.

The SAG results mean that, once again, the film that was being talked up earlier this month as a surefire Oscar winner, Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, has been squeezed out, with nothing on Saturday for George Clooney, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga.

Of course, Hollywood loves a heart-felt gesture and Clooney's heroic effort to organise the weekend's Hope for Haiti Now telethon, which raised £35m, could have a bearing. ·