Guillermo del Toro (born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker and writer best know for directing the Academy Award-winning fantasy films Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for the latter. Del Toro's work draws heavily on sources as diverse as weird fiction, monster movies, fantasy and war, and has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales and horror with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty in the grotesque.