Guillermo Del Toro. Pic/AFP

Guillermo del Toro today won the Academy Award for the Best Director for his visually-stunning inter-species romance "The Shape of Water", a fitting reward for his life-long obsession with monsters and creatures. Having already won at the Golden Globes, DGA, The Critics Choice and the Bafta Awards, the Mexican director was a clear front-runner in the race that had reputed names such as Christopher Nolan ("Dunkirk"), Jordan Peele ("Get Out"), Greta Gerwig ("Lady Bird") and Paul Thomas Anderson for "Phantom Thread".