Guillermo del Toro just clocked the fourth Best Director Oscar win for Mexican-born talent in the past five years.
“I am an immigrant … like many, many of you, and in the last 25 years, I’ve been living in a country all of our own. I think the greatest thing that our art does and our industry does is erase the lines in the sand,” del Toro said in his moving acceptance speech.
Claiming the trophy for “The Shape of Water,” del Toro joins a club of fellow best directors and close friends Alejandro Inarritu (for “Birdman” in 2015 and “The Revenant” in 2016, and yes we’re counting both in the tally) and Alfonso Cuaron (“Gravity” in 2014).
The three men, who operate under the moniker Three Amigos, share the production company Cha Cha Cha Films. And now they can all compare Academy Award statuettes.
In addition to his prize, of course, “The Shape of Water” took Best Picture.