Guillermo del Toro wins best director Oscar for ‘The Shape of Water’

Guillermo del Toro, winner of the award for best director for “The Shape of Water” celebrates in the audience at the Oscars on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Guillermo del Toro won the Oscar on Sunday for best director for “The Shape of Water,” his acclaimed fantasy about a mute janitor’s romance with a mysterious amphibian-man creature.

Accepting the award in Hollywood amid high anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States, the Mexican director declared himself an immigrant and hailed the power of cinema to “erase the line in the sand.”