Guillermo del Toro wins Best Director for "The Shape of Water"

He defeated filmmakers such as Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) and Jordan Peele (Get Out).

The award was presented to him by Emma Stone.

“I am an immigrant. The best thing our industry does is to help erase the lines in the sand when the world tries to make them deeper," Del Toro said in his acceptance speech.

About "The Shape of Water"

Set in Baltimore in 1962, "The Shape of Water" follows a mute custodian at a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured humanoid-amphibian creature.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, it stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer.

Del Toro has won several awards for "The Shape of Water," including the Golden Globes and Baftas, and the Directors Guild award.

Shortly before the Oscars, the family of playwright Paul Zindel accused Del Toro of copying the premise of "The Shape of Water" from Zindel’s 1969 play "Let Me Hear You Whisper." Fox Searchlight has denied the allegations.

With his win, Del Toro becomes the third Mexican director in five years to win the award, after Alfonso Cuarón who won for "Gravity" in 2014 and Alejandro González Iñárritu, who won for "Birdman" and "The Revenant" in 2015 and 2016 respectively.