Guillermo Del Toro is calling it as he sees. The filmmaker is also a longtime admirer of up-and-coming artists and doesn’t hesitate to show them his support. At the Oscars 2023, he talked about the racial bias he faced during the early phase of his career. He also urged the Latin filmmaking community to band together and asking animators to be taken seriously.

Guillermo Del Toro won the Best Animated Feature Academy Award for ‘Pinocchio‘ at the 95th Academy Awards. While talking to the press backstage after his win, he recalls the opposition he faced due to his background. Del Toro also reminded the industry to treat animators with respect and step up to encourage the artists of tomorrow.

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Guillermo Del Toro Talked About Racism He Faced As An Up And Coming Filmmaker

Guillermo Del Toro has previously won the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for ‘The Shape of Water,’ winning his third Academy Award for ‘Pinocchio.’ The 58-year-old filmmaker addressed the institutional racism in Hollywood. In the 1990s, an unnamed talent agent put forth his hesitation for hiring Del Toro for ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ asking, “Why do I want a Mexican, I have a gardener?“

While Guillermo Del Toro is happy with the industry making strides with diverse representation, he reminded the Latin community of filmmakers to stick together. While they may have come a long way, there’s still a certain degree of racial bias that filmmakers from smaller communities face. He believes a “glass ceiling” must be constantly broken. In 2018, he started an Animexico scholarship fund that supports budding artists from Mexico.

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Guillermo Del Toro Wants Animators To Be Given Serious Consideration

Always a champion of filmmakers, Guillermo Del Toro took a moment to address another thing on his mind. The three-time Oscar winner, who took the trophy for ‘Pinocchio,’ wants his fellow animators to be considered serious filmmaking talents. He believes addressing them as the technical crew is a disservice to their profession. “Animation in cinema, animation is not a genre. And animation is ready to be taken to the next step. We are all ready for it. Please help us. Keep animation in the conversation.” said the filmmaker while accepting his Oscar.

“It’s important that animation is done by people who are given license, who are given permission to be treated as artists, not just technicians. This is an artform that has been kept, commercially and artistically, in the kids table for so long,” said Guillermo Del Toro while attending the backstage press conference at the Oscars 2023.

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