Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has won the Directors Guild of Americas (DGA) top feature award for the fantasy drama The Shape of Water, which is about love between a mute cleaning woman and a captured aquatic creature.

He won the award on February 3, over Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) and Jordan Peele (Get Out).

After receiving the award the director said: "Inclusion is necessary if for no other reason than we're not hearing all the stories that need to be heard."
 
Interestingly, the DGA Award is one of the top indicators of Academy Awards odds, with all but seven of the DGA winners since 1948 going on to take the Best Director Oscar.