As we inch ever closer to the Academy Awards the various film guilds are releasing their nominees and winners. The Directors Guild of America (DGA) awards released their nominees today which includes director Guillermo del Toro who’s nominated in the Feature Film category for his fantasy romance, The Shape of Water.
Shockingly, this marks the first time the Mexican director of such works as Pan’s Labyrinth has been nominated by the Director’s Guild, who also nominated female director Greta Gerwig and African-American director Jordan Peele this year. Were del Toro to win the DGA award he’d be the third Mexican filmmaker to secure the honor after Alfonso Cuaron, who won in 2013 for Gravity, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu who won in both 2014 and 2015 for Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Revenant, respectively.
It’s unclear how long del Toro has been a DGA member, though inclusion is based on “employment in a DGA-covered category” and approval by a council in that same category. Considering del Toro’s been working in mainstream Hollywood since 2002 it’s possible he’s been a member for several years.
Just last week, Del Toro and The Shape of Water secured three Critics Choice awards including Best Picture and Director (as well as Production Design). He won the Golden Globe for Best Director on Sunday for The Shape of Water, which was also up for Best Screenplay. He’s also nominated for three BAFTA awards, the equivalent of the Oscars in Britain. Hopefully this DGA nod continues the director’s streak of awards. It’s been over ten years since del Toro was last nominated for an Academy Award when he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Pan’s Labyrinth.
The DGA winners will be announced February 3, 2018.