Kathryn Bigelow returns with Iraq film

Kathryn Bigelow (pictured with actor Jeremy Renner), director of the high-octane thriller Point Break, has broken a six-year silence with The Hurt Locker, a film about a bomb disposal expert takes risks beyond the call of duty in Iraq. The movie, which received its premiere at the Venice film festival on Thursday, has been viewed as a critique of the US army's continued involvement in Iraq.

Says Bigelow: "I think this is a war that certainly in my country is extremely under-reported." She may be right, but critics believe her movie will struggle to find an audience in America. Last year two films with an Iraqi war theme bombed in the US. Brian De Palma's Redacted made a paltry $65,000 in domestic ticket sales, and In the Valley of Elah, which was in competition at Venice last year, grossed only $6.8 million globally, despite starring the stellar duo of Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron.