Colombian Congresswoman Clara Rojas to Receive Inaugural “Writers & Directors Worldwide Honour Prize”

Summary
Announced during 2016 W&DW Congress, Award Recognises Exceptional Contributions to the Protection of Authors’ Rights in the Audiovisual Repertoire
20160930 W&DW Clara Rojas

On 30 September, it was announced that Colombian Congresswoman Clara Rojas would receive the first ever “Writers & Directors Worldwide Honour Prize” at the organisation’s annual congress in Rio de Janeiro. The award celebrates extraordinary contributions made by non-authors in protecting and promoting the rights of audiovisual creators. Ms Rojas has campaigned for the audiovisual right to remuneration for screenwriters and directors in Colombia for over 18 months. The subsequent “Pepe Sanchez Act” has now passed the first and second debates in the Colombia House of Representatives, supported by local societies Directores Audiovisuales Sociedad Colombiana (DASC) and Red Colombiana de Escritores Audiovisuales (REDES) with international support from Writers & Directors Worldwide and CISAC.

In a special video message delivered to delegates at the W&DW congress, Ms Rojas said, 

I would have loved to be there in person to accept this award but thank you very much for the recognition. I wish you every success in this conference and in strengthening the voice of creators across all of Latin America.”

W&DW President Yves Nilly declared,

The support of people like Ms. Rojas is absolutely vital to our campaign, so it’s a great pleasure to be able to honour her contribution. We will continue fighting to give audiovisual creators from all over the world the same opportunities to make a fair living from their work.”

Watch Clara Rojas' acceptance video, in Spanish, here:

To read the Writers & Directors Worldwide article on Clara Rojas receiving the "Writers & Directors Worldwide Honour Prize", please click here.