Frankenstein director Guillermo del Toro will be recognised for his "extraordinary contribution to film and the distinctive artistry that runs through his work" when he is given the British Film Institute’s highest honour – the BFI Fellowship.
The Mexican filmmaker is best known for his Oscar-winning films The Shape Of Water, Pinocchio and Pan’s Labyrinth, as well as Hellboy, Crimson Peak and Pacific Rim.
His most recent film, a new retelling of Frankenstein starring Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac, recently launched on Netflix and has generated Oscar buzz.
Del Toro will be awarded with the BFI Fellowship at the annual BFI Chair’s dinner in London in May 2026.
He will also take part in a public retrospective of his career at the BFI Southbank and will curate a film season at the venue at a later date.
He will also deliver a series of masterclasses to a group of young, aspiring filmmakers from the BFI Film Academy, and in May the BFI will re-release del Toro’s 1992 debut feature Cronos, which was recently remastered in 4K by the BFI and Les Films du Camelia.
In addition, he will make a special visit to the BFI National Archive as part of the Fellowship celebration.
Del Toro said: "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.
"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."
The BFI said the award "recognises his extraordinary contribution to film and the distinctive artistry that runs through his work across animation and live action, and as a Mexican filmmaker, in both Spanish and English".
BFI chairwoman Jay Hunt said: "Guillermo del Toro is an extraordinary filmmaker with a long relationship with the BFI who has consistently championed British talent.
"His collaborations here speak to the strength of our wider screen industries and the skilled people who power them.
"His body of work is instantly recognisable as boldly imaginative and fantastical.
"In awarding a BFI Fellowship to Guillermo del Toro, we recognise his remarkable contribution to cinema and the inspiration and magic he has brought to filmmakers and audiences here and around the world."
Other BFI Fellows have included David Lean, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Christopher Nolan and Tom Cruise.
Source: Press Association
