Guillermo del Toro Wins Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion for ‘The Shape of Water’

Guillermo del Toro made history this weekend when he took home Venice Film Festival’s top prize, The Golden Lion, for his fantasy feature The Shape of Water. He is the first Mexican filmmaker to ever take home the award, and the milestone could not be any sweeter for del Toro, who spent 10 years and an extremely difficult shoot to get it finally made.

The Shape of Water stars Sally Hawkins in Cold War era parable reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Shannon also star.

The film was a clear and emotional highlight of the festival. According to Deadline, the film’s premiere “left folks swooning in its wake. It was among the best-reviewed pictures here, and had one of the most emotional gala screenings in memory. When the Lion was announced tonight, the press room positively erupted with joy.”

When del Toro took the stage to accept the award, he 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.” The win is certainly a sweet topping on del Toro’s very first year in Venice’s competition and will give the film even more momentum as awards season rolls around.

See below for the full list of Venice’s 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