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The Iraq War drama "The Hurt Locker" won best picture and five other prizes Sunday at the Academy Awards, its haul including best director for Kathryn Bigelow. Bigelow is the first woman in the 82-year history of the Oscars to earn Hollywood's top prize for filmmakers. "There's no other way to describe it. It's the moment of a lifetime," Bigelow said. "It's so extraordinary to be in the company of my fellow nominees, such powerful filmmakers, who have inspired me and I have admired, some of them for decades." Among those Bigelow and "The Hurt Locker" beat are ex-husband James Cameron and his sci-fi spectacle "Avatar." Bigelow and Cameron were married from 1989-91. Cameron was seated right behind Bigelow at the Oscars and joined a standing ovation for her, clapping vigorously and saying, "Yes, yes" after she won. First-time winners took all four acting prizes: Sandra Bullock as best actress for "The Blind Side"; Jeff Bridges as best actor for "Crazy Heart"; Mo'Nique as supporting actress for "Precious"; and Christoph Waltz as supporting actor for "Inglourious Basterds." "Avatar" won three Oscars, for visual effects, art direction and cinematography, beating "The Hurt Locker" for the latter. "The Hurt Locker" also won out over "Avatar" for film editing, sound editing and sound mixing. With nine nominations each, "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar" came in tied for the Oscar lead. "Hurt Locker" screenwriter Mark Boal, who won the Oscar for original screenplay, thanked Bigelow, calling her an "extraordinary and visionary filmmaker," and dedicated his Oscar win to the troops still in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with those who did not make it home. Boal also affectionately recalled his father, who died a month ago. Missing from the onstage celebration for the "Hurt Locker" win was producer Nicolas Chartier, who was banned by the academy from attending the Oscars because of e-mails he sent urging members to vote for his movie -- an academy violation. "Up" earned the third-straight feature-animation Oscar for Disney's Pixar Animation, which now has won five of the nine awards since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added the category. The film features Ed Asner providing the voice of a crabby widower who flies off on a grand adventure by lashing thousands of helium balloons to his house. "Never did I dream that making a flip-book out of my third-grade math book would lead to this," said "Up" director Pete Docter, whose film also won for best musical score.