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‘This is the honour of a lifetime and a thrilling moment in a storyteller’s life,’ says the Mexican director
Laura HardingWednesday 03 December 2025 00:01 GMTComments
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Guillermo del Toro, the acclaimed director renowned for his visionary storytelling and distinctive artistry, is set to receive the British Film Institute’s highest honour, the BFI Fellowship.
The Mexican filmmaker, celebrated for Oscar-winning masterpieces such as The Shape Of Water, Pinocchio, and Pan’s Labyrinth, will be recognised for his "extraordinary contribution to film" across animation and live-action.
His most recent endeavour, a new retelling of Frankenstein starring Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac, recently launched on Netflix and has already generated significant Oscar buzz. Del Toro will be formally presented with the prestigious BFI Fellowship at the annual BFI Chair’s dinner in London in May 2026.
The honour will be accompanied by a comprehensive public retrospective of his career at the BFI Southbank, where he will also curate a dedicated film season at a later date.
open image in galleryGuillermo del Toro and Oscar Isaac on the set of ‘Frankenstein’ (Ken Woroner/Netflix via AP))Further demonstrating his commitment to nurturing new talent, del Toro is scheduled to deliver a series of masterclasses to young, aspiring filmmakers from the BFI Film Academy.
In May, the BFI will also re-release his 1992 debut feature, Cronos, which has been meticulously remastered in 4K. As part of the Fellowship celebration, he will also undertake a special visit to the BFI National Archive.
Expressing his profound gratitude, del Toro stated: "This is the honour of a lifetime and a thrilling moment in a storyteller’s life: to join a rarefied pantheon and to be recognised by the BFI."
He added, "I have been greatly influenced by British film and have enjoyed a long and fruitful collaboration with great talent on both sides of the camera going back decades. I thank everyone at the BFI for this great distinction. I will endeavour myself to work hard to prove myself worthy of their faith in me."
BFI chairwoman Jay Hunt lauded del Toro as "an extraordinary filmmaker with a long relationship with the BFI who has consistently championed British talent."
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She further highlighted his "boldly imaginative and fantastical" body of work, noting that the fellowship acknowledges his "remarkable contribution to cinema and the inspiration and magic he has brought to filmmakers and audiences here and around the world."
open image in galleryDel Toro has won three Oscars during his career (Getty Images)Del Toro now joins an illustrious pantheon of past BFI Fellows, including cinematic giants such as David Lean, Bette Davis, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, and Tom Cruise, cementing his place among the industry's most revered figures.
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