Del Toro Weeps at Morelia: 'We're Handing Down a World in Ruins'

By Daniel Okafor

Guillermo del Toro wept openly at the 24th Morelia Film Festival on Saturday, telling reporters: "We're handing down a world in ruins, morally, socially and spiritually fractured."

The tears came midway through a press conference marking the 3D re-release of "Pan's Labyrinth," his anti-fascist fable that first screened at Morelia 20 years ago. Asked what had changed in the two decades since, del Toro didn't hesitate.

"The state of our species and society today goes beyond anything we could have imagined back then," he said. "But I recognize the same sadness and despair. It pains me deeply to see one, two, or three generations fail the next."

He added that "the very fabric that once allowed us to tell fables and parables" is falling apart. Strong words from a man who built his career on fables.

What happened at Morelia?

Plenty. Del Toro received the Filmoteca UNAM Medal before the presser — an honor previously bestowed on Alfonso Cuarón, who was also in town supporting his son Jonas Cuarón's opening-night film, "Campeón Gabacho," which he produced. Del Toro holds an Honorary Doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

The director treated the festival like a homecoming. His masterclass ran nearly three hours, with tickets reportedly as scarce as a Cannes seat. It was his third Morelia appearance: first with "Pan's Labyrinth" 20 years ago, then with "The Shape of Water," his 2018 Best Picture winner.

Fans greeted him like a rockstar, per Variety, shrieking hordes included. Even jaded festival veterans noticed.

Who joined him on stage?

The reunion panel read like a family album:

• Daniela Michel, festival director
• Bertha Navarro, producer of "Pan's Labyrinth"
• Ivana Baquero, the film's young lead, now grown
• Guillermo Navarro, the cinematographer who won an Oscar for the film

Navarro didn't undersell his own work. "Without a doubt, it's my best film, and I hold that experience close to my heart," he said. "We had a limited budget, had to find unconventional solutions and took risks that could easily have failed. But we gambled and we won."

He also described the film's visual logic: "The camera is constantly searching, discovering and communicating." Twenty years on, it still searches.

What did they remember?

Del Toro recalled the film's 2006 Cannes premiere, where a standing ovation lasted more than 22 minutes. "From that moment on, everything changed," he said. "It changed our lives."

He called the production "an adventure that was financially horrifying but cinematically beautiful" and credited his collaborators plainly. "None of it would have been possible without the faith of my immediate family, Bertha and Guillermo," he said.

Producer Navarro, who also backed del Toro's debut "Cronos" and "The Devil's Backbone," said those three films "changed my life" and hold deeper significance than her long producing credits.

Baquero, then a child actress, put it simply: acting went "from being a hobby" to a profession. "Without that film, I might not be here today," she said.

Did politics intrude?

Yes, and del Toro didn't dodge. A journalist asked what he would say to young protesters in his hometown of Guadalajara, where demonstrations over contaminated water, repression and the alleged kidnapping of protesters on Oct. 11 have made headlines.

"Their voices must be heard, and I stand with them 100%," he said. "It's unacceptable that this remains unresolved or that anyone would try to silence them. Speaking out, protesting, and demanding a solution are fundamental rights — anytime, anywhere."

He noted he had given young people the floor at his masterclass that morning. "It's terrifying that something so fundamental should have to be fought for," he said.

Why does the re-release matter now?

Del Toro framed the 3D re-release as urgent. "There's an urgency and a fragility and ferocity that coexist in 'Pan's Labyrinth,'" he said. "I think it's an urgent moment to speak, for the film to speak to a new audience."

Navarro closed with a one-word verdict on the film's return after 20 years: "Olé."

The Morelia Film Festival, which opened Oct. 16, runs through Oct. 25. The re-release gives a new generation the chance to test whether a fable about fascism and fractured worlds still speaks to theirs.