Oscars 2018: Guillermo Del Toro wins Best Director award for 'The Shape of Water'

In an illustrious career spanning for more than 25 years, Guillermo Del Toro has finally become an academy award winner.

The 53-year-old director beat out fellow nominees Christopher Nolan ('Dunkirk'), Greta Gerwig ('Lady Bird'), Jordan Peele ('Get Out'), and Paul Thomas Anderson ('Phantom Thread').

It's his first Oscar win on his fourth nomination.

During his speech, Del Toro praised Hollywood for creating an environment that welcomed immigrants such as himself.

"In the last 25 years, I've been living in a country all of our own. 

The greatest thing our industry does is to erase lines in the sand. We should continue to do that," he said.

Del Toro also thanked distributor Fox Searchlight for listening to his "mad pitch" for a fairytale about a mute janitor who falls in love with a fish-man and thought it was "a sure bet."

'The Shape of Water' earned 13 total Oscar nominations, the most of any film this year, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Sally Hawkins), Best Supporting Actor (Richard Jenkins) and Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer).

(with ANI inputs)