It was a big night for genre films and history-making representation at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday. Jordan Peele won best original screenplay for his horror-comedy hybrid skewering-race-relations film "Get Out," which became a cultural phenomenon in 2017. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro won the best director prize for his horror-fantasy "The Shape of Water," which also won for best picture.
Peele, whose breakthrough was the Comedy Central sketch show "Key & Peele," is only the third person to be nominated for best screenplay, director and picture for his debut feature. Peele is also only the fifth African-American to be nominated for best director.
"I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible," said Peele in his acceptance speech. "I thought it wasn't going to work. I thought no one would ever make this movie. But I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone let me make this movie, that people would hear it and people would see it."
He also thanked the fans of the film, which carried the buzz of its release in February 2017 through a yearlong awards campaign.
"To everybody who went and saw this movie. Everybody who bought a ticket, who told somebody to buy a ticket, thank you," he said. "I love you for shouting out at the theater, for shouting out at the screen."
Speaking to the press backstage, Peele was asked about the commercial and critical success of films featuring African-American leads directed by African-American filmmakers.
"It's a renaissance," he said. "I almost never became a director because there was such a shortage of role models. I'm so proud to be a part of a time, the beginning of a movement where I feel the best films in every genre are being brought to me by my fellow black directors. It's very special and it goes to all areas of inclusion _ it's a very special time."
He also spoke to the importance of awards to inclusion and representation. He mentioned reaching out to Whoopi Goldberg, whose acceptance speech for best supporting actress for "Ghost" was an inspiration to him. Peele said, "I didn't know how important this was _ I always wanted this, but the campaign is grueling and there were times I questioned what this all about.
"I had an amazing feeling of looking at that 12 year old who had that burning in my guts for that kind of validation. An award like this is much bigger than me."
Guillermo del Toro won his first best director prize for "The Shape of Water." The horror-fantasy musical-inspired tale won four awards of 13 nominations, taking home best production design, score, director and picture.
"I am an immigrant," he said in his acceptance speech for the directing prize. "The greatest thing our art does and our industry does is to erase the lines in the sand. We should continue doing that when the world tells us to make them deeper."
Del Toro is the third Mexican director to win best director, following in the footsteps of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who won twice, in 2014 and 2015 for "Birdman" and "The Revenant," and Alfonso Cuaron, who won in 2013 for "Gravity."
"I was a kid enamored with movies, and growing up in Mexico I thought this could never happen," he said while accepting the best picture prize onstage. "It happens. And I want to tell you, everyone that is dreaming of a parable, of using genre or fantasy to tell stories about the things that are real in the world today, you can do it. This is a door, kick it open and come in."
It was a victorious night for Latin American filmmakers, with Disney's Day of the Dead-themed "Coco," co-directed by Mexican American director Adrian Molina, taking home the best animated feature award and the best song award for "Remember Me," by "Frozen" songwriting duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. "Representation matters," "Coco" co-director Lee Unkrich reminded the audience during his acceptance speech.
Chilean filmmaker Sebastian Lelio won the best foreign language film Oscar for "A Fantastic Woman," starring transgender actress Daniela Vega. Vega presented best song nominee Sufjan Stevens' performance of "Mystery of Love" from best picture nominee "Call Me By Your Name," becoming the first transgender presenter at the Academy Awards.
