Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” Named Top Film by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Guillermo del Toro’s latest project is resonating with the ladies…

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has selected the 53-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s The Shape of Water as its top film, with del Toro earning top director honors, and Sally Hawkins winning its bravest performance award.

Guillermo del Toro

Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird was also honored with three awards that included best supporting actress for Laurie Metcalf and two awards for Gerwig for best woman director and best woman screenwriter.

The alliance awards are called the EDAs in honor of AWFJ founder Jennifer Merin’s mother, actress Eda Reiss Merin. The Florida Project won two EDA Awards for best supporting actor for Willem Dafoe and best breakthrough performance for Brooklynn Prince.

In the EDA special mention categories, documentary filmmaker Agnes Varda was voted to receive the Actress Defying Age and Ageism Award, while receiving the best documentary award for her film Faces, Places.

Kate Winslet won the organization’s Actress Most in Need of a New Agent for Wonder Wheel and The Mountain Between Us.

The alliance also honored Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd and all women who spoke out against sexual harassment with the EDA Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Film Industry. The Annual AWFJ Hall of Shame Award was bestowed upon the high-profile group of those accused of sexual abuse including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Brett Ratner.

“This past year was an important year for women to feel empowered to speak out and be heard,” said Merin. “The need for gender parity and gender diversity in the movie industry is patently clear, and the time to stop sexual harassment in all industries is now. These goals are fundamental to AWFJ’s mission and its core values.

“I am thrilled that for this year’s awards, our AWFJ members voted to honor such a diverse array of talent and to recognize those who are leading with their voices to put an end to long time misconduct, making the 2017 EDA Awards particularly relevant when art and film must be the vanguard of social progress.”

Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” Earns 12 BAFTA Nominations

Guillermo del Toro continues to feel the Awards Season love…

The Shape of Water, the latest film by the 53-year-old Mexican filmmaker, who earned his first-ever Golden Globe on Sunday, leads the nominations for the British Academy Film Awards with 12 including Best Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.

Guillermo del Toro

Tying for the most BAFTA nominations after Fox Searchlight’s The Shape of Water are Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri — also from Searchlight — and Focus/Working Title’s Darkest Hour with nine each.

All three pictures are up for Best Film as are Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (Warner Bros.) and Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, to round out the field.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

BEST FILM
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito, Peter Spears
DARKEST HOUR Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh 

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
DARKEST HOUR Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Kevin Loader, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou, Ian Martin, David Schneider
GOD’S OWN COUNTRY Francis Lee, Manon Ardisson, Jack Tarling
LADY MACBETH William Oldroyd, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Alice Birch
PADDINGTON 2 Paul King, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin 

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
THE GHOUL Gareth Tunley (Writer/Director/Producer), Jack Healy Guttman & Tom Meeten (Producers)
I AM NOT A WITCH Rungano Nyoni (Writer/Director), Emily Morgan (Producer)
JAWBONE Johnny Harris (Writer/Producer), Thomas Napper (Director)
KINGDOM OF US Lucy Cohen (Director)
LADY MACBETH Alice Birch (Writer), William Oldroyd (Director), Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer) 

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ELLE Paul Verhoeven, Saïd Ben Saïd
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER Angelina Jolie, Rithy Panh
THE HANDMAIDEN Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim
LOVELESS Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky
THE SALESMAN Asghar Farhadi, Alexandre Mallet-Guy 

DOCUMENTARY
CITY OF GHOSTS Matthew Heineman
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Raoul Peck
ICARUS Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan
AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
JANE Brett Morgen 

ANIMATED FILM
COCO Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson
LOVING VINCENT Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart
MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE Claude Barras, Max Karli 

DIRECTOR
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Denis Villeneuve
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Luca Guadagnino
DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
GET OUT Jordan Peele
I, TONYA Steven Rogers
LADY BIRD Greta Gerwig
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME James Ivory
THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider
FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL Matt Greenhalgh
MOLLY’S GAME Aaron Sorkin
PADDINGTON 2 Simon Farnaby, Paul King 

LEADING ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
FRANCES McDORMAND Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
MARGOT ROBBIE I, Tonya
SALLY HAWKINS The Shape of Water
SAOIRSE RONAN Lady Bird 

LEADING ACTOR
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Phantom Thread
DANIEL KALUUYA Get Out
GARY OLDMAN Darkest Hour
JAMIE BELL Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Call Me by Your Name 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ALLISON JANNEY I, Tonya
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS Darkest Hour
LAURIE METCALF Lady Bird
LESLEY MANVILLE Phantom Thread
OCTAVIA SPENCER The Shape of Water 

SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER All the Money in the World
HUGH GRANT Paddington 2
SAM ROCKWELL Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
WILLEM DAFOE The Florida Project
WOODY HARRELSON Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 

ORIGINAL MUSIC
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Benjamin Wallfisch, Hans Zimmer
DARKEST HOUR Dario Marianelli
DUNKIRK Hans Zimmer
PHANTOM THREAD Jonny Greenwood
THE SHAPE OF WATER Alexandre Desplat 

CINEMATOGRAPHY
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Roger Deakins
DARKEST HOUR Bruno Delbonnel
DUNKIRK Hoyte van Hoytema
THE SHAPE OF WATER Dan Laustsen
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Ben Davis 

EDITING
BABY DRIVER Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Joe Walker
DUNKIRK Lee Smith
THE SHAPE OF WATER Sidney Wolinsky
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Jon Gregory 

PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola
DARKEST HOUR Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
DUNKIRK Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
THE SHAPE OF WATER Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau 

COSTUME DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Jacqueline Durran
DARKEST HOUR Jacqueline Durran
I, TONYA Jennifer Johnson
PHANTOM THREAD Mark Bridges
THE SHAPE OF WATER Luis Sequeira 

MAKE UP & HAIR
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn
DARKEST HOUR David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji
I, TONYA Deborah La Mia Denaver, Adruitha Lee
VICTORIA & ABDUL Daniel Phillips
WONDER Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten 

SOUND
BABY DRIVER Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mark Mangini, Mac Ruth
DUNKIRK Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten
THE SHAPE OF WATER Christian Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Nathan Robitaille, Brad Zoern
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood 

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Gerd Nefzer, John Nelson
DUNKIRK Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson
THE SHAPE OF WATER Dennis Berardi, Trey Harrell, Kevin Scott
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Nominees tbc
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Nominees tbc 

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
HAVE HEART Will Anderson
MAMOON Ben Steer
POLES APART Paloma Baeza, Ser En Low 

BRITISH SHORT FILM
AAMIR Vika Evdokimenko, Emma Stone, Oliver Shuster
COWBOY DAVE Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortensen
A DROWNING MAN Mahdi Fleifel, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Patrick Campbell
WORK Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell
WREN BOYS Harry Lighton, Sorcha Bacon, John Fitzpatrick

EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
DANIEL KALUUYA
FLORENCE PUGH
JOSH O’CONNOR
TESSA THOMPSON
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET

Guillermo del Toro Named Best Director at This Year’s Golden Globes

It’s a long overdue first for Guillermo del Toro

The 53-year-old Mexican filmmaker picked up his first Golden Globe trophy at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards.

Guillermo del Toro

del Toro, who’d never been nominated before this year, took home the trophy for Best Director, for his inspired work on The Shape of Water.

Known for his work on monster movies like Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth and Blade, del Toro is considered a master of the genre.

In The Shape of Water, he continues in that same world, telling the story of a lonely janitor who forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held captive. It was originally conceived with 1960s monster movies in mind, but transformed into something quite different as the deep relationship between its characters evolved.

“Since childhood, I’ve been faithful to monsters,” said del Toro in his acceptance speech, calling them “patron saints of imperfection.” del Toro noted that he has spent 25 years handcrafting “very strange little tales” that ultimately “have saved my life.”  He closed by noting, “My monsters thank you.”

Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar’s hit Coco was named Best Animated Feature. The film’s director Lee Unkrich gave a shout-out “to the incredible people of Mexico” without whom he said the film would not exist.

The win follows best animated film honors from the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle.

Coco takes place during the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos. Directed by Unkrich and Adrian Molina, Coco follows a young boy, Miguel, who wishes to be a star-studded crooner of standards, just like his grandfather, the legendary singer Ernesto de la Cruz. However, music is of the devil in Miguel’s family, and de la Cruz is largely to blame for the curse. In order to make generational events correct, Miguel finds himself on the other side of life with relatives he’s only heard stories about.

The 75th anniversary Golden Globe Awards were handed out at the Beverly Hilton..

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Motion Picture, Drama: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Actress, Motion Picture Drama
: Frances Mcdormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Actor, Motion Picture Drama
: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Best Motion Picture, Musical/Comedy
: Lady Bird, Iac Films; A24
Best Actress, Motion Picture – Comedy
: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Best Direction, Film
: Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape Of Water
Best Limited TV Series/Made For TV Movie
: Big Little Lies, HBO, HBO Entertainment / David E. Kelly Productions / Pacific Standard / Blossom Films
Best TV Series, Comedy/Musical
: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon, Amazon Studios
Best Actor, Limited Tv Series/Made For TV Movie: 
Ewan Mcgregor, Fargo
Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
: Martin Mcdonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Supporting Actress, Motion Picture
: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Best Animated Film
: Coco, Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Best Supporting Actress TV Series/Limited Series/Tv Movie
: Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Best Actor Motion Picture, Musical/Comedy
: James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Best Original Song, Film
: “This Is Me” — The Greatest Showman, Music By: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Lyrics By: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul
Best Original Score, Film
: Alexandre Desplat, The Shape Of Water
Best Supporting Actor, TV Series/Limited Series/Made For TV Movie
: Alexander Skarsgård, Big Little Lies
Best TV Series, Drama: 
The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu, MGM
Best Actor, TV Series – Drama
: Sterling K. Brown This Is Us
Best Actress TV Series, Drama
: Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Best Actress TV, Musical/Comedy:
 Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Best Supporting Actor, Film:
 Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Actress Limited Series TV:
 Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies

Guillermo del Toro Earns First-Ever Golden Globe Nominations as “The Shape of Water” Leads Pack of Film Nominees

Guillermo del Toro is having a Golden moment…

Nominations for the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards were announced on Monday morning on NBC’s “Today” show live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, with the 53-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s The Shape of Water leading the pack of nominees on the movie front.

Guillermo del Toro

The film earned seven nominations, including nods for del Toro in the Best Director – Motion Picture and Best Screenplay – Motion Picture categories.

Mariah Carey picked up her first-ever Golden Globe nomination.

The 48-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer earned the nod in the Best Original Song – Motion Picture category for co-writing the title track for the animated holiday film, The Star. Carey co-wrote the music and lyrics with Marc Shaiman.

Sebastián Lelio has also picked up his first Golden Globe nod, earning the honor in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The 43-year-old Argentinian-born Chilean film director, screenwriter, film producer and editor picked up the nod for his award-winning Spanish-language drama A Fantastic Woman.

Alfred Molina is another first time nominee…

The 64-year-old half-Spanish actor earned a nod in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television category for his performance on FX’s Feud: Bette and Joan.

Presenters Alfre Woodard, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Bell, and Sharon Stone were joined by Golden Globe ambassador Simone Garcia Johnson, Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Meher Tatna, and Dick Clark Productions executive vice president of television Barry Adelman in revealing the nominees.

Seth Meyers will emcee the 2018 ceremony from the same location on January 7. The Golden Globes will air live at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET on NBC.

Produced by Dick Clark Productions in association with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes honor achievements in film and television, both domestic and foreign.

Here’s the complete list of nominees:

Best Picture – Drama:
“Call Me by Your Name”
“Dunkirk”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Picture – Comedy or Musical: 
“The Disaster Artist”
“Get Out”
“The Greatest Showman”
“I, Tonya”
“Lady Bird”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama:
Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Tom Hanks, “The Post”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama:
Jessica Chastain, “Molly’s Game”
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”
Michelle Williams, “All the Money in the World”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:
Steve Carell, “Battle of the Sexes”
Ansel Elgort, “Baby Driver”
James Franco, “The Disaster Artist”
Hugh Jackman, “The Greatest Showman”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: 
Judi Dench, “Victoria & Abdul”
Helen Mirren, “The Leisure Seeker”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Emma Stone, “Battle of the Sexes”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Armie Hammer, “Call Me by Your Name”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Hong Chau, “Downsizing”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Best Animated Film:
“The Boss Baby”
“The Breadwinner”
“Coco”
“Ferdinand”
“Loving Vincent”

Best Director – Motion Picture:
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk”
Ridley Scott, “All The Money in the World”
Steven Spielberg, “The Post”
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture:
Guillermo Del Toro, Vanessa Taylor, “The Shape of Water”
Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
Liz Hannah, Josh Singer, “The Post”
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Aaron Sorkin, “Molly’s Game”

Best Original Score – Motion Picture:
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
“The Shape of Water”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Post”
“Dunkirk”

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Home,” Ferdinand
“Mighty River,” Mudbound
“Remember Me,” Coco
“The Star,” The Star
“This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language
“A Fantastic Woman”
“First They Killed My Father”
“In the Fade”
“Loveless”
“The Square”

Best Television Series – Drama:
“The Crown”
“Game of Thrones”
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
“Stranger Things”
“This is Us”

Best Television Series – Comedy:
“Black-ish”
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
“Master of None”
“SMILF”
“Will & Grace”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama:
Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Sterling K. Brown, “This is Us”
Freddie Highmore, “The Good Doctor”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama:
Caitriona Balfe, “Outlander”
Claire Foy, “The Crown”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Deuce”
Katherine Langford, “13 Reasons Why”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy:
Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Aziz Ansari, “Master of None”
Kevin Bacon, “I Love Dick”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Eric McCormack, “Will and Grace”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy:
Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”
Alison Brie, “Glow”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Issa Rae, “Insecure”
Frankie Shaw, “SMILF”

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
“Big Little Lies”
“Fargo”
“Feud: Bette and Joan”
“The Sinner”
“Top of the Lake: China Girl”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Robert De Niro, “The Wizard of Lies”
Jude Law, “The Young Pope”
Kyle MacLachlan, “Twin Peaks”
Ewan McGregor, “Fargo”
Geoffrey Rush, “Genius”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Jessica Biel, “The Sinner”
Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies”
Jessica Lange, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Susan Sarandon, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Reese Witherspoon, “Big Little Lies”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
David Harbour, “Stranger Things”
Alfred Molina, “Feud”
Christian Slater, “Mr. Robot”
Alexander Skarsgard, “Big Little Lies”
David Thewlis, “Fargo”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”
Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Chrissy Metz, “This is Us”
Michelle Pfeiffer, “The Wizard of Lies”
Shailene Woodley, “Big Little Lies”

Guillermo del Toro’s “Shape of Water” Named to Sight & Sound’s Annual Critics List of The Year’s Best Films

Guillermo del Toro’s latest film is earning more accolades…

The 53-year-old Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist’s latest film, The Shape of Water, has earned a spot on Sight & Sound’s annual critics list of the best films of 2017.

Guillermo del Toro

The BFI’s international magazine polled more than 180 critics, programmers and academics from around the world to secure the results which, for the first time, include a television series in the Top 10: David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return came in 2nd.

del Toro’s critically acclaimed fantasy drama, which was awarded the Golden Lion for best film at this year’s Venice International Film Festival, comes in a No. 14, in a tie with Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country.

Written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, the film stars Sally HawkinsMichael Shannon and Octavia Spencer, and follows a mute custodian at a high-security government laboratory who befriends a captured sea creature in 1962 Baltimore.

Get Out, from Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures, topped the list.

Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel’s Spanish-language film Zama made the Top 5.

Below are the Top 21 titles on the list.

1. Get Out, dir: Jordan Peele
2. Twin Peaks: The Return, dir: David Lynch
3. Call Me by Your Name, dir: Luca Guadagnino
4. Zama, dir: Lucrecia Martel
5. Western, dir: Valeska Grisebach
6. Faces Places, dir: Agnes Varda
7. Good Time, dirs: Ben and Josh Safdie
8. Loveless, dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev
9. Dunkirk, dir: Christopher Nolan
9. The Florida Project, dir: Sean Baker
11. A Ghost Story, dir: David Lowery
12. You Were Never Really Here, dir: Lynne Ramsay
12. BPM, dir: Robin Campillo
12. Lady Macbeth, dir: William Oldroyd
14. God’s Own Country, dir: Francis Lee
14. The Shape Of Water, dir: Guillermo del Toro
16. Let the Sunshine In, dir: Claire Denis
16. Mudbound, dir: Dee Rees
16. Strong Island, dir: Yance Ford
16. I Am Not Your Negro, dir: Raoul Peck
16. Personal Shopper, dir: Olivier Assayas

Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” Wins Top Prize at the Venice Film Festival

Guillermo del Toro has reason to roar…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s lyrical period fairy tale, The Shape of Water, was awarded the top prize Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

Guillermo del Toro

del Toro’s fantasy premiered on the Lido last week early in the proceedings, and left viewers swooning in its wake. It was among the best-reviewed films of the festival, and had one of the most emotional gala screenings in memory.

When the Lion was announced tonight, the press room positively erupted with joy.

The Shape Of Water, a Cold War-set parable that stars Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Shannon, represents del Toro’s first time in competition in Venice.

The prize, he noted, is the first time a Mexican helmer has won the Golden Lion.

From the stage, the filmmaker said, “I’m 52 years old, I weigh 300 pounds, and I’ve done 10 movies. There is a moment in every storyteller’s life, no matter what age you are, you risk it all and go and do something different.”

Added the teary del Toro, “To every Latin American filmmaker dreaming of doing something in the fantastic genre, it can be done.”

He said he intends to call the statue the “Sergio Leone” and remarked how full the Sala Grande was of the things he believes in, “Life, love and cinema.” That echoed something he’d said earlier in the week of the film, which mixes fantasy, romance, thriller, and old-style Hollywood: it’s a movie that’s “in love with love and in love with cinema.”

Shape took 10 years of struggle for del Toro to get made, and he’s said it was the hardest shoot he’s ever had.

With his Venice appearance, del Toro completed, in a way, a circle begun by his compatriots and pals Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro G Inarritu, whose Gravity and Birdman, respectively, made big splashes in recent years on this island before going on to Oscar glory. The Shape Of Water is a movie we will be talking about all through awards season.

Backstage, del Toro spoke to the press and was asked about the significance of the win for genre movies. “It means a lot,” he said pointing to parables that are “artistic, beautiful, politically charged movies.” It’s about time, he said, that “we understand every vernacular in cinema done with intelligence and passion is valid.”

Here’s a look at the overall winners:

VENICE 74

Golden Lion
The Shape Of Water, dir: Guillermo del Toro

Grand Jury Prize
Foxtrot, Samuel Maoz

Silver Lion, Best Director
Xavier Legrand, Jusqu’à La Garde

Volpi Cup, Best Actress
Charlotte Rampling, Hannah

Volpi Cup, Best Actor
Kamel El Basha, The Insult

Best Screenplay
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Special Jury Prize
Sweet Country, dir: Warwick Thornton

Marcello Mastroianni Award for for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Charlie Plummer, Lean On Pete

VENICE HORIZONS

Best Film
Nico, 1988, dir: Susanna Nicchiarelli

Best Director
Vahid Jalilvand, No Date, No Signature

Special Jury Prize
Caniba, dirs: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel

Best Actress
Lyna Khoudri, Les Bienheureux

Best Actor
Navid Mohammadzadeh, No Date, No Signature

Best Screenplay
Los Versos Del Olvido, dir: Alireza Khatami

Best Short Film
Gros Chagrin, dir: Céline Devaux

Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film
Jusqu’à La Garde, dir: Xavier Legrand

VENICE CLASSICS

Best Restoration
Idi I Smotri, dir: Elem Klimov

Best Documentary on Cinema
The Prince And The Dybbuk, dirs: Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski

VENICE VIRTUAL REALITY

Best VR
Arden’s Wake (Expanded), dir: Eugene YK Chung

Best VR Experience
La Camera Insabbiata, dirs: Laurie Anderson, Hsin-Chien Huang

Best VR Story
Bloodless, dir: Gina Kim

Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” to Show at the Telluride Film Festival

Guillermo del Toro is heading to Colorado…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker is among the directors taking the films to the Telluride Film Festival this year.

Guillermo del Toro

The festival, which always holds its cards close to the vest until the eve of the annual Rocky Mountain movie event — and which has become a strong bellwether for Oscar season with several Best Picture winners first showing there at the official launch of awards season — looks to have several major contenders in the lineup just released this morning.

del Toro will be bringing his latest film The Shape of Water to the film, after premiering the film to glowing reviews at the Venice Film Festival.

The filmmaker’s lyrical period fairy tale, starring Sally Hawkins, marks a return to Pan’s Labyrinth territory for the filmmaker.

It also stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins.

There will be plenty of foreign-language Oscar hopefuls on display including Chile’s transgender drama Fantastic Woman, directed by Sebastián Lelio.

The 43-year-old Argentinian-born Chilean filmmaker’s film stars Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes and Luis Gnecco.

The film centers on Marina as a young transgender waitress and aspiring singer. Reyes stars as Orlando, 20 years older than her, is the owner of a printing press. Marina and Orlando are in love and they both plan a future together. After Orlando dies suddenly, Marina sees herself forced to confront Orlando´s family and fight again to show everyone what she is: a complex, strong, honest and fantastic woman.

Here’s the complete lineup below:

  • ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER (d. Rebecca Miller, U.S., 2017)
  • BATTLE OF THE SEXES (d. Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton, U.S., 2017)
  • DARKEST HOUR (d. Joe Wright, U.K., 2017)
  • DOWNSIZING (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2017)
  • EATING ANIMALS (d. Christopher Quinn, U.S., 2017)
  • FACES PLACES (d. Agnes Varda, JR, France, 2017)
  • A FANTASTIC WOMAN (d. Sebastián Lelio, Chile-U.S.-Germany-Spain, 2017)
  • FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL (d. Paul McGuigan, U.K., 2017)
  • FIRST REFORMED (d. Paul Schrader, U.S., 2017)
  • FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER (d. Angelina Jolie, U.S.-Cambodia, 2017)
  • FOXTROT (d. Samuel Maoz, Israel, 2017)
  • HOSTAGES (d. Rezo Gigineishvili, Georgia-Russia-Poland, 2017)
  • HOSTILES (d. Scott Cooper, U.S., 2017)
  • HUMAN FLOW (d. Ai Weiwei, U.S.-Germany, 2017)
  • THE INSULT (d. Ziad Doueiri, France-Lebanon, 2017)
  • LADY BIRD (d. Greta Gerwig, U.S., 2017)
  • LAND OF THE FREE (d. Camilla Magid, Denmark-Finland, 2017)
  • LEAN ON PETE (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K.-U.S., 2017)
  • LOVELESS (d. Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia-France-Belgium-Germany, 2017)
  • LOVE, CECIL (d. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, U.S., 2017)
  • LOVING VINCENT (d. Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, U.K.-Poland, 2017)
  • A MAN OF INTEGRITY (d. Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2017)
  • THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (d. Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 2017)
  • THE RIDER (d. Chloé Zhao, U.S., 2017)
  • THE SHAPE OF WATER (d. Guillermo del Toro, U.S., 2017)
  • TESNOTA (d. Kantemir Balagov, Russia, 2017)
  • THE VENERABLE W. (d. Barbet Schroeder, France-Switzerland, 2017)
  • THE VIETNAM WAR (d. Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, U.S., 2017)
  • WORMWOOD (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2017)
  • WONDERSTRUCK (d. Todd Haynes, U.S., 2017)

Two documentary shorts, HEROIN(E) (d. Elaine McMillion Sheldon, U.S., 2017) and LONG SHOT (d. Jacob LaMendola, U.S., 2017) will also play together in the main program.

 

Fox Searchlight to Release del Toro’s Cold War Drama “The Shape of Water” in December

Guillermo del Toro is getting in Shape for December…

Fox Searchlight will release the 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s Cold War drama The Shape of Water on December 8, right in the wheelhouse of the annual film awards season.

Guillermo del Toro

The fantasy adventure film, which has been mostly shrouded in secrecy stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Lauren Lee Smith, Michael Stuhlbarg and Octavia Spencer.

Fox Searchlight describes the film as “an other-wordly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1963. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Hawkins) is trapped in a life of silence and isolation. Her life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment.”

The experiment apparently is an “aquatic man,” played by Jones, a frequent del Toro collaborator who has appeared in the writer-director’s Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy movies, as well as his FX series The Strain.

del Toro directs from the script he wrote with Vanessa Taylor.

del Toro to Receive Filmmaker Award from Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE)

Guillermo del Toro is getting a reel special honor…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker will receive the 2017 MPSE Filmmaker Award from the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE).

Guillermo del Toro

The organization will celebrate del Toro at the 64th annual Golden Reel Awards on February 19.

“Guillermo del Toro’s relentless imagination and energy provide inspiration to all of us in the entertainment industry,” MPSE president Tom McCarthy said in a statement. “He is constantly surprising, challenging and delighting audiences worldwide. We are extremely proud to recognize his contributions to our industry and culture with our Filmmaker Award.”

del Toro’s directing credits include HellboyPacific Rim, Crimson Peak, Oscar winner Pan’s Labyrinth and the forthcoming The Shape of Water. Earlier in his career, he worked as a special-effects makeup designer. He also has produced such titles as Biutiful, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Book of Life and Puss in Boots.

“Texturally and narratively, sound and image fuse in the cinematic experience,” said del Toro. “I have spent as much time on the mixing board as I have on a stage, shooting or in a color-correction suite grading the final film. To paraphrase Mark Twain: ‘The difference between the almost right sound and the right sound ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.’ I am thus delighted and honored to receive this award from my colleagues and partners in the storytelling experience.”

del Toro to Direct Untitled Supernatural Romance for Fox Searchlight

Guillermo del Toro’s next project is taking Shape

The 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker will direct an untitled supernatural romance for Fox Searchlight with Michael Shannon is in talks to star.

Guillermo del Toro

The project, rumored to be titled The Shape of Water, is set in 1963 with Shannon playing the villain of the story. A mute laboratory worker, to be played by Sally Hawkins, falls in love with an amphibious man who’s being held captive.

Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg will co-star.

del Toro is directing and producing with Callum Greene, who worked with him on both Pacific Rim and Crimson Peak.