Guillermo del Toro has been named guest artistic director of this year’s AFI Fest in a coup for the festival that will also keep the Mexican auteur top of mind when voters consider his imminent Venice world premiere, Frankenstein .

Filmmakers who have previously fulfilled the role include Pedro Almodóvar, David Lynch, Greta Gerwig, Bernardo Bertolucci, Agnès Varda, and Ava DuVernay.

AFI president and CEO Bob Gazzale called del Toro “one of the great champions of the art form”. The festival runs October 22–26 at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

Netflix will release Frankenstein in select theatres on October 17 and on the service on November 7. Del Toro adapted the screenplay from Mary Shelley’s Gothic classic and it stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz

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