Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s movie “The Shape of Water” wins Venice Film festival’s top prize

“The Shape of Water” clinches the Golden Lion award for the best film at the 2017  Venice Film Festival.

The movie directed by Guillermo del Toro tells the story of a mute who falls in love with an aquatic creature. It beats hyped movies such as George Clooney’s “Suburbicon” and Alexander Payne’s “Downsizing,” which also premiered during the 10-day movie manic event. The Shape of Water won over a jury headed by American actress Annette Bening and unlike previous times, the movie was a confirmed winner among the jury as well as the critics.

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Accepting the award, the Mexican filmmaker said, “I believe in life, I believe in love and I believe in cinema.” He also didn’t forget home, expressing words of encouragement for hopeful filmmakers  “As a Mexican” he said, “I want to say this is a first for a Mexican storyteller so I want to dedicate and give the prize to every young Mexican film-maker or Latin American film-maker that is dreaming to do something in the f genre, as a fairytale, as a parable, and is faced with a lot of people saying it can’t be done. It can.”

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Other winners include  Isreali’s Samuel Maoz for “Foxtrot, who won the Grand Jury Prize, went to Israeli filmmaker Samuel Maoz for “Foxtrot”. Frenchman Xavier Legrand won the Best Director for his first feature “Custody,” a tough-minded examination of a couple’s divorce and its effect on their children. From a separate jury, he also got the Lion of the Future award for best debut feature across the festival’s multiple sections. Kamel El Basha won Best Actor for “The Insult,” while Charlotte Rampling won Best Actress for Italian director Andrea Pallaoro’s oblique character study “Hannah.”

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