When James Cameron picked up Best Director at the Golden Globes  he looked genuinely surprised,  "Frankly, I thought Kathryn was gonna get this" he said, referring to the fact that his ex-wife and Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow was tipped to pick up the award.

The bigger surprise was that she was there in the first place. Filmmaking is still a big, exclusive boys club. Basically, Kathryn Bigelow is working in an industry that's as sexist as Deuce Bigalow.

Here are three rather startling statistics:

o A scan of the top 250 films in the U.S  in 2008 reveals that only 9% were directed by women.

o Last year, the only film in the worldwide box office top 30 that was directed by a woman was the romantic comedy The Proposal.

o If Kathryn Bigelow goes on to get nominated for best director at the Oscars, then she'd be in an elite group of 4 women... if she wins, then she'd be the first woman to do so in the award's 82-year history.

Not very cheery reading, and a situation that Rachel Millward, director of The Birds Eye View Film Festival, an event that showcases female-directed cinema from around the globe, is frankly a little hacked off about.

"We hear shocking anecdotes of outright sexism on set, and appalling reluctance from both crew and male cast to accept the direction of a woman. Sadly, that basic level of sexism is still there. Not always - but too often," says Millward.

If we're going to pin this on outright sexism - which is exactly what we'll do in a moment - we should at least entertain some of the arguments used in the industry's defence.

Argument 1: Women just aren't as interested in becoming film directors as men.

Possible, but there again, elsewhere in the film business women are better represented, especially as producers, managers and agents. Why would directing be any different? And why would film be different from any other areas of the media? In TV and Radio production offices and newsrooms in the UK at least it's a much fairer mix. Maybe not 50/50, but getting there.

Argument 2:  A lot more men, especially those in their late teens, go to the cinema that women. So, to better reflect their tastes you need a male director.

It looks like a lot have people have fallen for this one for a long time. In the 18 to 24-year old age group, there are more male cinema goers - but only by one or two percent. Something you kind of knew already if you went to any of the recent 'bloke classics' like The Dark Knight or Iron Man. It was a pretty mixed crowd whooping it up. And who's saying that female directors can't make these movies anyway? Isn't The Hurt Locker a war movie, and a strutting, macho one at that? Not according to the studios. Even when it comes to female-friendly multiplex fare like Sex and the City, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon, they assign a male director.  Honestly, how could Chris Weitz possibly know what it's like to be troubled female high schooler? That he did such a great job simply bolsters the argument that female directors should, in fairness, be allowed a crack at mainstream movies with traditionally laddish material - horror, fantasy or superhero stories.

Argument 3: Women don't make very good directors.

It's a claim that can be pretty much brushed aside, especially if you look at recent output. One of the best independent films to come along for ages, An Education, was directed by Lone Sherfig. It now leads the nominations at the BAFTA's, alongside Avatar, and with good reason. It's a tangy, sensous coming of age story about a 16-year-old schoolgirl. Then there's Sam Taylor Wood's Nowhere Boy, an early biopic of John Lennon that focusses on the messy relationships between the teenage musician and the the aunt who raised him and the mother who abandoned him. Plus, there's Jane Campion's Bright Star, a tender, light as butterfly wings romance between poet John Keats and his neighbour Fanny Brawne. Three strong films presenting the kind of relationships and emotional landscape rarely covered by male directors. If these are the kind of films women directors are going to make, or simply the kind of material they're only to be 'trusted' with by risk averse studios and financiers, then the cinema would be a more interesting place to be.

In the near future at least things do seem to be shifting. A number of A-list actresses are getting in on the act. We'll soon see Whip It!  a rather lively look at women's roller derby directed by Drew Barrymore and produced by her own company Flower Films. Then Jodie Foster directs a bizarre film called The Beaver, with Mel Gibson as a toy company boss who can only get through life by having a glove puppet of a beaver as his right hand man.  But that might be it for a while.

Rachel Millward points out how the recession has seen roughly 20% of the female workforce bumped out of the film business, and the decline of independent cinemas as not boding well.

"Much as I would love to respond with pure optimism and delight in celebrating all the amazing work so many women filmmakers around the world are doing, I think there are sadly some causes for concern that we can't ignore and expect to get better," she says.

But Rachel is also quick to recognise the importance of successful directing role models such as the above.  Let's hope that The Hurt Locker is that ticking bomb...

For more information on Birds Eye View, visit their website:  http://www.birds-eye-view.co.uk/