Guillermo del Toro wins Best Director

5 March 2018

Guillermo del Toro picked up the Best Director Academy Award with an emotional speech.

Guillermo del Toro

The 53-year-old filmmaker was honoured with the Oscar for his work on 'The Shape of Water' and he praised his friends, fellow Mexican directors - and past Oscar winners - Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro G. Iñárritu while calling for more inclusivity.

He said: "I am an immigrant, like Alfonso and Alejandro my compadres.

"I think the greatest thing our industry does is erase the lines in the sand, we should keep doing that as the world tries to make them deeper.

"I want to say, like Jimmy Cagney said once, my mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my brothers and sisters thank you, and I thank you."

The prize was given out at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles by last year's Best Actress winner Emma Stone, who hailed the strength of the category, which also included Christopher Nolan for 'Dunkirk', 'Get Out' filmmaker Jordan Peele, Greta Gerwig for 'Lady Bird' and 'Phantom Thread' director Paul Thomas Anderson.

She said: "These four men, and Greta Gerwig, delivered their own masterpieces this year."

'The Shape of Water' - which was nominated for 13 Academy Awards - has also picked up est Original Music Score and Best Production Design during the ceremony so far.