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Look familiar? - 'The Shape of Water' was filmed in both Hamilton and Toronto, so if you thought it looked familiar, it might be because you've been there.

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Canadian locations - The auditorium scenes in the movie were filmed at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, which opened in 1913 and is considered a Canadian National Historic Site.

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Fun fact - The Elgin Theatre is also where 'The Shape of Water' held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. A truly Canadian release, through and through.

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Canadian locations - The marquee shown in the movie when Elisa climbs down the fire escape is from Massey Hall in Toronto, a popular concert venue near Yonge and Dundas square.

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Canadian locations - Humanities students at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus might have recognized the brutalist architecture exterior of the OCCAM Institute where Sally Hawkins’ character works as the exterior of their campus building.

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Canadian locations - The pie shop that Richard Jenkins' character frequents is Dundas West's Lakeview Restaurant.

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Canadian locations - The film visits the Port Lands' Keating Channel often, where the climax of the film takes place, and you can see the Don River flowing into Lake Ontario as well as a bit of the Gardiner Expressway.

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Canadian locations - Hamilton provided many other locations for the film, including Octavia Spencer's character's apartment on MacNab Street, the industrial site where the Russian spies meet, and the site of an advertising firm which was shot at the Hamilton City Hall.

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Canadian set design - CP24 reports that Toronto set director Jeffrey A. Melvin created the facility that houses the amphibian creature using salvaged industrial material from a hospital being torn down, and that most of the '50s-style furniture in the film's apartment scenes was found on Kijiji.

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Visual effects - The underwater scenes turned out so entrancingly beautiful with the help from Toronto digital studio Mr. X.

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Oscar nominations for Canadians - This Cold War-era fantastical drama has received a total of 13 Oscar nominations—including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, and awards for the cast and crew.

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Best Picture: ‘The Shape of Water’ - Torontonian producer J. Miles Dale shares the Best Picture nomination with director Guillermo del Toro.

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J. Miles Dale - Dale told Global News that, other than the director, cinematographer, and a few actors, every single person on the film was Canadian. "It absolutely is I think unprecedented, frankly, in terms of the type of recognition for local talent."

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J. Miles Dale - Dale said of the film, "It's so original and it's bold and it's kind of this love letter to love."

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Best Production Design: ‘The Shape of Water’ - Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau, Jeffrey Melvin are up for the Oscar in a category they’ve already won at the British Academy Film Awards this year, so things are looking good for the Canadian trio.

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Paul Austerberry - The Toronto-based production designer told Global News, "It used to be in the business we would bring a lot more crew from the States, and now the business has evolved and the quality of the staff and quality of the crew that is available in Canada and Toronto… is just equal to anywhere else."

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Best Costume Design: ‘The Shape of Water’ - Luis Sequeira is the Canadian-Portuguese designer behind Guillermo del Toro's fantastical humanoid amphibious creature (played by Doug Jones).

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Luis Sequeira - He already won the Excellence in Period Film award at the Costume Designers Guild Awards this year for his incredible work, so place your bets for the Academy Awards.

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Luis Sequeira - "I think we have to work harder to prove our talent, so I think it’s an amazing day for the Canadian film industry and I’m honoured to be a small part of it," the Toronto-based costume designer told Global News.

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Best Film Editing: ‘The Shape of Water’ - Sidney Wolinsky, a Canadian-American film editor with over 30 credits to his name, is nominated for his work on del Toro's film.

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Sidney Wolinsky - Unsurprisingly, he already won the Hollywood Editor Award at the 21st Annual Hollywood Film Awards for editing 'The Shape of Water.'

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Best Sound Editing: ‘The Shape of Water’ - Canadian sound engineers Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira share this nomination.

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The making of Merman sounds - According to CP24, Toronto-based Ferreira reported that in order to make the amphibian sounds, they mixed Robitaille’s voice with noises from various marine animals and del Toro’s infamously hoarse post-production voice.

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Rural Ontario’s role - Ferreira also said that in order to get the sound for the 1960s-era cars, they trekked out into the countryside late at night and recorded themselves tearing around on empty roads.

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Best Sound or Sound Mixing: ‘The Shape of Water’ - Canadian sound engineers Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier are in the running for this Academy Award.

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Something for Toronto and Canada to be proud of - 'The Shape of Water' is the nomination leader for the Academy Awards by a wide margin, and local Canadian talent is finally receiving the spotlight it has long deserved.

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Success outside the Academy Awards - The drama has already won other major awards including Best Picture at the Critics' Choice Awards and the Golden Globe for Best Director for del Toro.

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Success outside the Academy Awards - It also had a leading 12 British Academy Film Award nominations—with three wins in Best Film Music, Best Production Design, and Best Direction.

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At last, sweet recognition - Sequeira told Global News, "Everyone poured their heart and soul into this project, so it's amazing to be recognized."

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