For the first screening of this year’s festival, Guillermo del Toro brought his Oscar-winning period horror film Pan’s Labyrinth back to Cannes for its 20th anniversary.

The film famously received the longest standing ovation in Cannes history, at a reported 22 mins. Cineverse is presenting the 4K restoration, which was personally overseen by Del Toro, while StudioCanal acquired international sales rights today.

Del Toro presented the film by calling it “the second-worst filmmaking experience of my life,” while adding the first was “Mimic with the Weinsteins.” Despite the difficulties faced in making the genre-bending project, from financing it to post-production, Pan’s Labyrinth was a critical and commercial hit, ultimately winning the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score.

“Cinema has saved my life a few times, and I hope the movie connects with you in that way,” an emotional Del Toro said to the audience after the screening, having been left momentarily speechless following a standing ovation. “I know it has through the decades, and this is what film does for us. And this is what art does for us. And fuck AI.”

The Shape of Water filmmaker also discussed the political resonance of the 2006 movie, which is set in 1944 against the backdrop of Francoist Spain. “We are unfortunately in times that make this movie more pertinent than ever, because they tell us it is useless to resist, and that art can be done with a fucking app. But I think that I feel like Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth. If we can just leave a mark, if we can put our strength against their strength, there is hope.”

Addressing the enduring appreciation for the film, Del Toro observed that the fans who approach him about Pan’s Labyrinth have always been younger viewers. “Everybody that liked Hellboy saw it when they were 20, now they come to me, and they're 40. Everybody that likes Pan's Labyrinth, every year, is in their 20s. For some reason, it connects with the strength of being young, when the world is telling you that you're wrong and you know that you're right.”

The 4K restoration will play in theatres this October.