Director Yves Montmayeur is currently working on a feature-length documentary about the Oscar-winning filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro.
For over 30 years, Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has fused the fantastical and the human, the beautiful and grotesque in a series of acclaimed films, TV shows, books and other works. Called Sangre Del Toro, a feature-length documentary is set to explore his life and output, from his early stop motion animated work and breakthrough live-action feature Cronos to his later, Oscar-winning success with such films as The Shape Of Water (2017) and Pinocchio (2022).
Currently in post-production, the documentary is by Yves Montmayeur, whose previous work includes The 1000 Eyes Of Dr Maddin – about fellow filmmaker Guy Maddin – and Citizen Kitano – a portrait of Japanese actor, director and all-round polymath Takeshi ‘beat’ Kitano. In other words, Montmayeur knows how to tell a unique filmmaker’s story.
Variety reports that Sangre Del Toro has been picked up by the company Brilliant Pictures, which is currently looking for international distributors at Cannes. The documentary will take us through the “enchanted maze of del Toro’s imagination,” according to a description published by the outlet, “offering insights into the humanistic and monstrous elements that define his cinematic universe.”
Del Toro is undoubtedly a worthy subject for a feature-length film, and not just because of his own movie career. He’s a genuine lover of cinema and art in general, and it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine an entire documentary devoted to his opinions on films, monsters and literature. Or perhaps another one about his affection for model-making; anyone who follows del Toro on social media will have noted his skill at building and painting model kits – he finished off a pretty spectacular Nosferatu a couple of months ago.
Sangre Del Toro is scheduled for release in November 2025 – around the time Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein premieres on Netflix. We’ll keep you posted if we hear of a firm date or news of cinema or disc releases.
