May 15, 2026
Mexican director Guillermo del Toro received the longest-ever standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival two decades ago for his historical fantasy "Pan's Labyrinth", which returns this year to the Cannes Classics section.
Speaking to Reuters, del Toro said the 22-minute ovation given to his Spanish-language film 20 years ago produced a "rush of human emotion."
"Alfonso Cuaron was there with me because we produced the movie together and he said, 'let it in, man,'" recalled del Toro on Tuesday. "I'm not very good with praise and he said, 'let it in, let love go in' and I experienced it like that."
"Pan's Labyrinth" did not win the top-prize Palme D'Or that year, but del Toro went on to win the best picture Oscar for his fish monster love story "The Shape of Water" in 2018.
