10 · 17 · 26

Guillermo del Toro Receives the Artistic Excellence Award at the 24th FICM and Presents a Restored Version of PAN'S LABYRINTH

Gustavo R. Gallardo

During the 24th Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), director Guillermo del Toro was honored with the Award for Artistic Excellence for his significant contributions to both Mexican and world cinema. The presentation took place prior to a screening of a restored, 3D version of his iconic film, Pan’s Labyrinth (2006).

In the presence of FICM President Alejandro Ramírez and founder and general director Daniela Michel, del Toro, a friend of the festival, received the recognition “for finding a friend in monstrosity (…) and for the generosity he displays in film and in person.”

“I’ll accept it, but I’m not carrying it! It’s beautiful!” the filmmaker—who is also a producer and screenwriter—remarked with a laugh, thanking the festival “for the film, for the fables, for the monsters, and for today.”

As a special guest at this year’s edition of the FICM, the Mexican filmmaker—who has participated in the festival on two previous occasions with films such as The Shape of Water (2017) and The Orphanage (2007)—arrived at the Teatro Mariano Matamoros to present the restored Spanish-Mexican co-production, a film that won three Academy Awards, seven Goya Awards, three BAFTAs, and nine Ariel Awards.

“Morelia was one of the first homes for Pan’s Labyrinth, and now we’ve returned… It’s hard to fully grasp how fortunate we are that this festival exists and continues to endure,” the Mexican director said with gratitude.

Del Toro was joined by the film’s cinematographer, Guillermo Navarro; producer Bertha Navarro; and lead actress Ivana Baquero.

Set in Francoist Spain in 1944, Pan’s Labyrinth follows Ofelia, a young girl who discovers a labyrinth where a faun reveals that she is actually a princess from a hidden kingdom—all while her family contends with the brutality of a captain in the Francoist army. “More than 1,300 people worked on the conversion of the film to 3D; it was done manually by humans, and for humans, it was done very slowly over many months,” the filmmaker emphasized, prompting applause from the audience, as del Toro is a staunch opponent of artificial intelligence.

“When the fairies arrive, everything in the film changes… Today, you’re going to see it for the first time—even if you’ve already seen it before,” he concluded.