Director: Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro builds films around the conviction that the monster is usually the most sympathetic figure in the room, and the human institutions are the actual threat. Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth all place a child or an innocent between a creature and a fascist.

He insists on practical creature effects wherever possible and maintains a personal library and collection he calls Bleak House for reference. The Shape of Water won him Best Director and Best Picture, and his stop-motion Pinocchio won Best Animated Feature.

His unmade projects, including At the Mountains of Madness and a long-developed Hobbit, are nearly as discussed as the finished ones.