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(From AP Worldstream)
Byline: SANDY COHEN
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, who won the original screenplay Oscar earlier this year for "Crash," collected another award for the film on Wednesday: the Humanitas Prize.
The screenwriting award honors work that helps "liberate, enrich and unify society." Eleven writers collected awards and their share of $145,000 (A115,354) in prize money at a luncheon at the Hilton Universal Hotel. Haggis and Meresco received $25,000 (A19,889).
"Crash," which also won the best-picture Oscar, tells the intertwining stories of an array of diverse characters over 36 hours in Los Angeles. The Humanitas judges commended it "for its call to reach out with respect and compassion to all of our brothers and sisters."
The award recognizes screenwriters who "give people something worthwhile to think about," said Frank Desiderio, president of the Humanitas Prize. Since 1974, the organization has awarded more than 240 prizes and $2.5 million in cash to television and film writers with "strong ethical voices."
"Storytellers have always shaped culture," Desiderio told The Associated Press. "Stories carry values, and we want to raise up the best values so that the culture is influenced to become one where the common good is really served."