Guillermo Del Toro To Receive BFI Fellowship for His Contributions to the Film Industry

The British Film Institute (BFI) has announced that acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro will receive the organization's highest accolade, the BFI Fellowship.

The award will be presented to the Mexican director at the annual BFI Chair's dinner in London in May 2026, hosted by BFI Chair Jay Hunt. This prestigious honor recognizes del Toro's transformative influence on cinema, celebrating a career spanning both live-action and animated productions in Spanish and English.

Del Toro described the upcoming recognition as a career pinnacle. He called it the honour of a lifetime and a thrilling moment in a storyteller's life to join a rarefied pantheon and to be recognized by the BFI, according to Deadline.

He noted his deep personal connection to British cinema, adding that he has been greatly influenced by British film, has enjoyed a long and fruitful collaboration with great talent on both sides of the camera for decades, and that he will endeavour to work hard to prove himself worthy of their faith in him.

The Fellowship places del Toro alongside some of the most significant figures in film history. Past recipients include Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Tilda Swinton, Spike Lee, and Orson Welles. BFI Chair Jay Hunt praised del Toro's unique vision and his enduring relationship with the UK film industry.

Hunt said Guillermo del Toro is an extraordinary filmmaker with a long relationship with the BFI who has consistently championed British talent. He added that del Toro's body of work is instantly recognisable for its bold imagination and fantasy.

In conjunction with the award ceremony next spring, the BFI has planned a comprehensive celebration of the director's work. Del Toro will participate in a public "Career Conversation" at BFI Southbank and will deliver a series of masterclasses for aspiring filmmakers from the BFI Film Academy, Variety reported.

Audiences will also be able to view a retrospective of his films at BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX, and on the BFI Player. Additionally, his debut feature film from 1992, Cronos, will be re-released in cinemas across the UK in May following a 4K restoration overseen by the director himself.

Del Toro's connection to the Institute dates back to his youth in Mexico, where he worked as a projectionist and sourced film prints from the BFI National Archive for screenings.

His career has since produced critical and commercial hits such as "Pan's Labyrinth," "Hellboy," and "The Shape of Water," which won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. His most recent project, "Frankenstein" (2025), was partially filmed in the UK, further cementing his creative ties to the region, according to the Independent.

Originally published on Enstarz

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