Guillermo del Toro: Saying ‘Art Is Not Important’ Is ‘Always the Prelude to Fascism’

While accepting the directing honor at Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch during the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Guillermo del Toro told the up-and-coming filmmakers to never listen when “people tell you art is not important,” because that is “always a prelude to fascism.”

“Be kind, be involved, believe in your art,” he said. “At a time when people tell you art is not important, that is always the prelude to fascism. When they tell you it doesn’t matter, when they tell you a fucking app can do art you say, if it’s that important, why the fuck do they want it so bad? The answer is because they think they can debase everything that makes us a little better, a little more human. And that, in my book, and in my life, includes monsters.”

Along with del Toro, who received the Directing…