Guillermo Del Toro has been appointed as the guest artistic director of the 2025 edition of AFI Fest.

The American Film Institute announced on Monday that Guillermo del Toro has been chosen as the guest artistic director for AFI Fest, the organization’s annual festival. This year, the festival will take place from October 22 to 26 at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

This announcement comes as del Toro is preparing for the world premiere of his latest film, Frankenstein, at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. Netflix will release the film in select theaters on October 17 before making it available for streaming on November 7.

“Guillermo del Toro is one of the great champions of the art form—a visionary filmmaker, a passionate cinephile, and a tireless advocate for bold, original storytelling,” AFI president and CEO Bob Gazzale said today in a press release announcing the appointment. “As Guest Artistic Director of AFI Fest, he brings a singular perspective that will inspire audiences of all generations.”

Del Toro joins a lineup of guest artistic directors that features notable filmmakers such as Pedro Almodóvar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ava DuVernay, Greta Gerwig, David Lynch, and Agnès Varda.

This year’s AFI Fest will begin on October 22 with the screening of 20th Century Studios’ Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, a biographical film about the rock icon featuring Jeremy Allen White. The film will arrive shortly after its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on September 28 and just ahead of its theatrical release on October 24.