Toronto played a role at the Oscars as part of the Best Picture winner 'The Shape Of Water.' (Screenshot courtesy of Allstar/FOX Searchlight Pictures)
Congratulations, Toronto! You won an Oscar. Sort of.
Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water was a big winner at the Academy Awards — and Toronto played a big role in the film. The Mexican director, who loves Toronto, transformed many locations in and around Toronto (and Hamilton) to appear in the epic tale (Watch the trailer below!) about a watery romance between a mute woman and a fish-man.
While del Toro is like an honourary Torontonian — to the extent that he can almost be called Guillermo del Toronto — he also had the help of some incredible Torontonians and Canadians. They are now Oscar-winners as well.
A massive congratulations to Toronto producer J. Miles Dale. He shares the Best Picture Oscar with del Toro. Dale called the achievement "a watershed moment" for Toronto and the Canadian film industry.
And more congratulations to this year's Best Production Design winner, another Torontonian, Paul Austerberry.
Austerberry shares the award with Jeffrey A. Melvin and Shane Vieau for creating the look of the Cold War-era merman romance.
Even the Gardiner Expressway looks romantic in the film.
The film was shot in Toronto and Hamilton. And most of the crew members were Canadian.
Del Toro and the movie's cinematographer will forever be honourary Canadians now.
