The 29th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival will present the cast of “The Shape of Water” and director-producer Guillermo del Toro with the Vanguard Award.

The award will be presented Jan. 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Scheduled to attend are Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Doug Jones, del Toro and producer J. Miles Dale.

“Guillermo del Toro is a master storyteller, whose boundless imagination has crafted a visually dazzling fable with The Shape of Water,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “This romantic story of a woman discovering herself as she falls for someone otherworldly is driven by an astounding performance by Sally Hawkins, and features an acclaimed cast including Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon, Doug Jones and Michael Stulhbarg.”

The film is set in Cold War-era America circa 1962 in a hidden high-security government laboratory where Hawkins character is isolated until she discovers a classified experiment. Fox Searchlight is launching “The Shape of Water” at two New York City locations Friday at the AMC Lincoln Square and Angelika, then adding 10 to 12 new markets on Dec. 8.

“La La Land” received the Vanguard Award this year. Previously announced 2018 honorees are Timothée Chalamet, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter, Allison Janney, Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell.