Fantasy romance The Shape of Water was the big winner at the Oscars in Hollywood on Sunday night, winning in four categories, including the double of Best Picture and Best Director for Guillermo del Toro.

The Shape of Water also took the awards for Best Original Score and Production Design. Its Best Picture and Best Director wins marked a return to the same film taking the top two awards, which in recent years had gone to separate films. 

Accepting the Best Picture Oscar, Mexican filmmaker del Toro shared the advice he had been given by Steven Spielberg.

"A few weeks ago Steven Spielberg said: 'If you find yourself there on the podium remember that you are part of a legacy, you are part of a world of filmmakers and be proud of it'," del Toro recounted. "I am very proud of it."

The Shape of Water (Sally Hawkins, pictured) has enchanted audiences

He dedicated his win to "every young filmmaker," and ended by saying: "You can do it, this is a door, kick it open and come in."

Del Toro had been the favourite to win Best Director, with opinion divided as to whether The Shape of Water or Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri would receive the top award of the night, Best Picture.

The winners of the acting awards (L-R) - Sam Rockwell, Frances McDormand, Allison Janney and Gary Oldman

As with Best Director, there were no surprises in the acting categories: Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell won Best Actress and Supporting Actor for their respective performances in Three Billboards. Gary Oldman was named Best Actor for Darkest Hour, with Allison Janney winning Best Supporting Actress for I, Tonya.

You can watch the Oscars on RTÉ2 on Monday night at 9.30pm.

Click to check out all the style from the Oscars 2018

The Winners:
Best Picture
The Shape of Water

Best Director
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Best Actress
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actor
Gary OIdman, Darkest Hour

Best Supporting Actor
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actress
Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Best Adapted Screenplay
James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name

Best Original Screenplay
Jordan Peele, Get Out

Best Foreign Language Film
A Fantastic Woman

Best Documentary Feature
Icarus, Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan

Best Animated Feature Film
Coco, Lee Unkrich and Darla K Anderson

Best Original Score
The Shape of Water, Alexandre Desplat

Best Original Song
Remember Me from Coco, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez 

Best Animated Short Film
Dear Basketball, Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant

Best Documentary Short Film
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405, Frank Stiefel

Best Live Action Short Film
The Silent Child, Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton 

Best Cinematography
Blade Runner 2049, Roger A Deakins

Best Production Design
The Shape of Water, Paul D Austerberry, Shane Vieau, Jeffrey A Melvin 

Best Visual Effects
Blade Runner 2049, John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R Hoover 

Best Film Editing
Dunkirk, Lee Smith

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Darkest Hour, Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick

Best Costume Design
Phantom Thread, Mark Bridges

Best Sound Editing
Dunkirk, Richard King and Alex Gibson

Best Sound Mixing
Dunkirk, Gregg Landaker, Gary Rizzo and Mark Weingarten