“Never listen when people say art doesn’t matter,” director Guillermo del Toro told up-and-coming filmmakers when he accepted the director’s honor at Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch during the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Because it is “always a prelude to fascism.”
“Be kind, get involved and believe in your art,” he said. “When people say art doesn’t matter, that’s always a prelude to fascism. When you’re told it doesn’t matter and you can do art on a shitty app, if it’s so important, why do they want it so much? The answer is because they think they can degrade everything that makes us a little better and a little more human. And in my book, and in my life, that includes monsters.”
In addition to del Toro, who won Best Director for “Frankenstein,” other winners included Dwayne Johnson, who won Best Creative Impact Performance for “Smashing Machines,” and Teyana Taylor, who won Best Creative Impact in a Breakthrough Performance Award for “One Battle After Another.”
Elsewhere in his speech, del Toro spoke of the “religious experience” he had when he first saw James Whale’s 1931 film “Frankenstein.” Sarah Karloff, daughter of original “Frankenstein” star Boris Karloff, was a guest at the event.
“Sometimes the world is so complex that it can only be explained by the power of monsters,” he said. “We are in such a time now.”
He later added: “It’s not just the size of the screen, it’s the size of the idea. Ambition includes failure. It’s right next to success. There’s no number on the door. If you knock on that door, it will open and you’ll either be there with the supermodel of your dreams or your mother in curlers.”
“Frankenstein” was released on Netflix on October 17, 2025. The film stars Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, and Mia Goth.
