Guillermo Del Toro’s fantasy romance ‘The Shape of Water’ has won Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards. The fantasy romance – which stars Sally Hawkins as a mute cleaner who falls in love with a mysterious sea creature – was the big winner on Sunday (04.03.18) evening, picking up three other honours as well as the night’s most prestigious honour. Picking up the final prize of the night, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro – who also scooped Best Director – said he was very “proud” of his work and place in moviemaking history. He said: “As a kid I was a big admirer of foreign film “A few weeks ago, Steven Spielberg said, ‘If you find yourself at the podium, remember that you are a part of our legacy, a part of our world of filmmakers and be very, very proud.’ I am proud.” The 53-year-old actor/director went on to dedicate the award to aspiring filmmakers.

He continued: “I want to dedicate this to every young filmmaker, the youth who is showing us how things are done in every country of the world. I was a kid enamored with movies growing up in Mexico, I thought this could never happen. It happens and I want to tell you everyone that is dreaming of using genre or fantasy to tell stories about things that are real in the world today, you can do it. This is a door — kick it open and come in.”

The movie – which scooped Best Picture over ‘Call Me by Your Name’, ‘Darkest Hour’, ‘Dunkirk’, ‘Get Out’, ‘Lady Bird’, ‘Phantom Thread’, ‘The Post’ and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ – was nominated for 13 awards and also won Best Original Music Score and Best Production Design.