Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro's 'The Shape of Water' won the Venice Film Festival's top prize, the Golden Lion, it was announced on Saturday night.

The cold-war era sci-fi romance film was among 21 movies being judged for the coveted award at the world's oldest film festival.

"If you remain pure and stay with your faith, with what you believe in — in my case, monsters — you can do anything," Del Toro told the audience as he dedicated the award to young Latin American directors.

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The film has a strong anti-discrimination message, and tells the story of a mute woman who works in a remote US government laboratory and falls in love with a monstrous creature hidden there.

It was picked as a winner by a jury led by American actress Annette Bening at the 74th edition of the annual festival in Italy.

Read more: Why Annette Bening will make a good jury president at the Venice Film Festival

Other contenders for the top award included George Clooney's "Suburbicon" and Alexander Payne's "Downsizing."

Israeli director Samuel Maoz' "Foxtrot' took the runner-up Grand Jury Prize.

The festival's acting trophies went to Palestinian actor Kamel El Basha for his work in the film "The Insult," and to British actress Charlotte Rampling for her work in the drama "Hannah."

The 74th Venice Film Festival awards Golden Lion for Cold War-era fantasy film Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro scored the biggest award of the evening, the Golden Lion for his fantasy romance "The Shape of Water." Known for other fantasy epics like "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy," del Toro summed up his outlook on his profession in his acceptance speech: "I believe in life, I believe in love, and I believe in cinema."

The 74th Venice Film Festival awards An emotional event French director and actor Xavier Legrand became emotional while accepting the Silver Lion award for Best Director for his family drama "Jusqu'a la garde" (English title: "Custody"). The film deals with the fallout of a divorce and the resulting custody arrangement for the children involved.

The 74th Venice Film Festival awards Middle Eastern narratives of conflict The Volpi Cup for Best Actor was awarded to Kamel El Basha for his role in the Lebanese-French co-production "The Insult." The movie deals with how the conflict in the Middle East plays out in every life, as a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee have an argument that attracts national attention, as the quarrel goes to court.

The 74th Venice Film Festival awards Charlotte Rampling keeps winning The Volpi Cup for Best Actress went to Charlotte Rampling for her performance in "Hannah," a drama that depicts the trauma of a woman struggling to carry on with her life after her husband's imprisonment. The Emmy and Academy Award-nominated actress said that despite having a long list of awards already, the award from the Venice Film Festival meant a lot to her, as Italy is her "inspiration."

The 74th Venice Film Festival awards Bereavement on the silver screen Israeli director Samuel Maoz won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize for his drama "Foxtrot," which deals with the bereavement of two parents having learned that their son has died in the line of duty as a soldier. The movie was a co-production of Israel, Germany, France and Switzerland.

The 74th Venice Film Festival awards American woman wages war against police Martin McDonagh scored the Best Screenplay Award for his drama "Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri." In the movie, a foul-mouthed woman played by Frances McDormand confronts the incompetence of her local law enforcement unit after the murder of her daughter by erecting three billboards to challenge the police and indeed the entire town.

The 74th Venice Film Festival awards Annette Bening: Lady at the helm US actress Annette Bening presided over Venice Film Festival jury this year as the first female since 2006. "I was thrilled to be asked to be here," Bening said about the experience. The four-time Oscar nominee added that times were changing for the film industry with a growing number of women getting recognized as directors. She stressed, however, that there was still "a long way to go." Author: Sertan Sanderson



Other winners

The 11-day festival finished on Saturday.

Other awards were:

- Silver Lion for best director: Xavier Legrand for "Custody" (France)

- Special jury prize: "Sweet Country" by Warwick Thornton (Australia)

- Coppa Volpi for best actor: Kamel El Basha in Ziad Doueiri's "The Insult" (Italy)

- Coppa Volpi for best actress: Charlotte Rampling in Andrea Pallaoro's "Hannah" (Italy)

- Prize for best screenplay: Martin McDonagh for "Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri" (Britain)

- Marcello Mastroianni award for best young actor or actress: Charlie Plummer in Andrew Haigh's "Lean on Pete" (Britain)

- Lion of the Future for best debut film: Xavier Legrand for "Custody" (France)

aw/jm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)