LOS ANGELES: Guillermo del Toro’s bid for Oscars glory was boosted Saturday as he took top prize at the Directors Guild of America honors — a key predictor for the Academy Awards.
The Mexican filmmaker was crowned best director for his Cold War-era fantasy romance “The Shape of Water,” a month ahead of the glittering culmination of Hollywood’s annual awards season.
The 53-year-old has already scooped a Golden Globe for directing the movie, starring Sally Hawkins as a janitor in a top secret government laboratory who falls in love with a mysterious merman-like sea creature.
“This movie particularly took me to do things I was very afraid of,” Del Toro told fellow filmmakers at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.
“It was a movie that was full of many reasons why it shouldn’t work, and those are the reasons why it works.”
An emotional Del Toro’s voice trembled as he dedicated the award to his mother and to his father, who was recently taken ill.
“While they are still with me, and they can still hear me say this, thank you dad, thank you mom. You believe in me and my monsters all the time.”
Del Toro edged out Christopher Nolan, nominated for World War II thriller “Dunkirk” — another film seen as a top contender for Oscar glory on March 4.
“The Shape of Water” was nominated for seven Golden Globes in January, eventually taking home two, and was awarded best picture by the Producers Guild. It is up for 13 Oscars.
The DGA Awards are seen as a reliable bellwether of Academy Awards success — particularly the best director prize, as 13 of the last 14 winners went on to win the Oscar for best director.
Presenters at Saturday’s star-studded event for 1,600 guests included Sam Rockwell, Amy Schumer, Saoirse Ronan, Kevin Bacon, Allison Janney and Damien Chazelle, who won the top prize at the last ceremony.
The other nominees for best director were Greta Gerwig for coming-of-age story “Lady Bird,” Martin McDonagh for dark crime comedy “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” and Jordan Peele for racial satire “Get Out.”
Peele walked away with a medallion for best first-time feature, and said the reaction to the movie had made for “the best year of my life, hands down.”
Del Toro wins top DGA prize for ‘The Shape of Water’
Del Toro wins top DGA prize for ‘The Shape of Water’
Art Cairo part of a ‘long-term cultural project,’ founder says
CAIRO: As Art Cairo 2026 draws to a close, its founder Mohammed Younis is keen to set the fair apart from its regional counterparts — and also asserts that the annual event is part of a “long-term cultural project.”
The fair, which took place at the Grand Egyptian Museum and wrapped up on Jan. 26, boasted a distinctly Arab flavor, in terms of galleries, artists and the themes of the artworks on show.
Younis says that is all part of a conscious curatorial effort.
“Art Cairo stands apart from other art fairs in the region as the only platform dedicated exclusively and intentionally to Arab art … While many regional fairs present a broad, globalized perspective, Art Cairo emerges from a different vision — one rooted in presenting Arab art from within,” Younis told Arab News.
Across the fair, depictions of golden age icons such as 1950s superstar Mohamed Mohamed Fawzy by painter Adel El-Siwi jostled for attention alongside ancient iconography and pop culture references from the Arab world.
Abu Dhabi’s Salwa Zeidan Gallery, for example, exhibited work by up-and-coming Egyptian artist Passant Kirdy.
“My work focuses on Egyptian heritage in general, including pharaonic and Islamic art. These influences are always present in what I create. This symbol you’re looking at is a pharaonic scarab … I’m very attached to this symbol,” she told Arab News.
The Arab focus of the curation is part of an effort to bill Art Cairo as a “long-term cultural project,” Younis noted.
“Ultimately, Art Cairo is not simply an art fair; it is a long-term cultural project. It exists to support Arab artists, contribute to building a sustainable art market, and articulate an authentic Arab narrative within the regional and international art landscape.”
