Mario Mitrotti: Farewell to the Talented Director Who Fought to Defend the Rights of His Colleagues

On May 20, the audiovisual creators of the world bid farewell to director Mario Mitrotti: an irreplaceable human being, leader, and professional who left his example as a guide for the future.

In its latest edition, AV Creators News featured an interview with the director and president of the Directors of Colombia (DASC). The report not only highlights his professional artistic career but also values his work at the helm of DASC, during which the Pepe Sánchez Law was approved in 2017. This law allows Colombian audiovisual authors to receive fair payment for the public communication of their works. He also recently achieved a long-held dream: securing a permanent headquarters for the directors of Colombia (see DASC article)

Mario Mitrotti's dedication to DASC was so tenacious that his last public appearance was, fittingly, for the official inauguration of the entity’s headquarters on May 9. Following this event, his health rapidly deteriorated, leading to hospitalization and eventually his passing.

The entire community of audiovisual authors mourns the physical loss of one of its principal founders of international organizations dedicated to defending the rights of audiovisual authors.

An Indelible Mark

Throughout his life, Mario Mitrotti directed feature films, shorts, documentaries, over 1,500 commercials, music videos, audiovisuals in all formats, and more than 850 hours of television productions. He conducted his professional activities in Colombia, Venezuela, USA (New York, Hollywood, Miami, Tampa), Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Ecuador, Argentina, Italy, and Spain.

In his extensive career, he received 86 national and international awards in Cinema and Advertising. Along with his Colombian colleagues, he founded DASC, the Society for the Management of Directors' Rights of Colombia, a group that generated the Pepe Sánchez Law, granting this right to screenwriters and directors in his country.

Mario Mitrotti at the approval of the Pepe Sánchez Law in 2017

Additionally, Mario Mitrotti was a founding member of FESAAL, the Federation of Latin American Audiovisual Authors' Societies, and the International Confederation of Audiovisual Authors AVACI.

For both his career and his union work, audiovisual creators from various countries around the world have expressed their farewells to a master of his craft and a reference point in the struggle for new generations.