Guillermo del Toro

Known for: Pan's Labyrinth (2006), The Shape of Water (2017)

Guillermo del Toro grew up in Guadalajara and developed a filmmaking practice that draws on horror, folklore, and the Spanish Civil War to examine how fantastical thinking sustains people through political violence. Pan's Labyrinth (2006) — set in post-Civil War Spain, moving between a militarized reality and a child's fantasy world — is among the most visually inventive films of the decade. The Shape of Water (2017) won him the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture.