Announced The Awardees and Full Program
of the XVII Edition of the World Mother Tongues Prize
Ostana (CN, Italy), Friday 27 to Sunday 29 June 2025
Languages Featured: Cerma (Burkina Faso); Kurdish (Syria); Malagasy Tsimihety (Madagascar); Croatian (Italy); Breton (France); Galician (Spain); Irish (Ireland); and, as always, Occitan.
“Sensa raïtz pas de flors”
“Without roots, there are no flowers”
The "Ostana Prize: Writings in Mother Tongues" is the international event dedicated to mother tongues that, annually, gathers in Ostana (CN), an Occitan village at the foot of Monviso, authors from around the world to celebrate linguistic biodiversity through words, music, and cinema, embodying the spirit of “convivenza” (coexistence) intrinsic to Occitan culture.
The Prize returns for its XVII edition from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 June, hosted, as usual, in the multifunctional center of the Borgata Miribrart. Over its history, the festival has amplified 96 authors representing 50 languages from all 5 continents, forging a global network of writers, passionates, and supporters of linguistic diversity, making Ostana as a flagship event worldwide, recognized by UNESCO which proclaimed the “2022-2032 International Decade of Indigenous Languages” and by two key networks for linguistic diversity: ELEN (European Language Equality Network) and NPLD (Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity).
The synergies created each year among awardees, guests, and collaborators spark unique partnerships, cementing the Ostana Prize not only as a bastion for mother tongue preservation but also as a hub for enduring international artistic co-creation that thrives beyond the festival dates.
“Sensa raïtz pas de flors” -"without roots, there are no flowers" – this is the motto guiding the spirit of this year's gatherings, which inspired the Ostana Prize Collective to compose the eponymous anthem-song that will accompany the festival celebrations. This ancient verse originates in the poetry of the troubadours and trobairitz of medieval Occitania. A simple yet powerful image: without roots, no tree grows, no flower blooms, no colour illuminates the world. Such are mother tongues: deep roots that nourish identities, shape thoughts, and express irreplicable worldviews. Each language carries the memory of a people, the journey of a living culture, that’s capable of meeting, blending, transforming, and thus projecting itself into the future.
Preserving a language means not letting that unique flower it represents wither away. The Ostana Prize was born from this awareness: to celebrate languages as seeds of the future, as acts of care for what makes us human, different and yet part of the same garden. It is in this spirit that the song conceived by the Ostana Prize Collective came to life. This working group (Paola Bertello, Flavio Giacchero, Luca Pellegrino, Marzia Rey) drives the Prize’s performative dimension. The lyrics draw inspiration from the “canso” “Can vei la flor” by Bernart de Ventadorn, one of the greatest troubadours of the 12th century. The original first two stanzas are woven together with a newly composed refrain that grafts itself onto the troubadour’s words.
This song aims to build a bridge: between poetry and modernity, between the roots of Occitan culture and the urgency of our time. A hymn to care, love, and coexistence, against the winds of war and division. The video of the song is available on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T42_gqJbBEU
The Ostana Prize is a literary, translation, music, and film award dedicated to mother tongues, without distinction based on the number of speakers or geographical reach. The awardees of the XVII edition will be:
Kristian Braz (Breton language, France) – Special Prize; Soulama Maténé Martine "Téné Tina" (Cerma language, Burkina Faso) – International Prize; Francesca Sammartino (Croatian language, Italy) – Historical Linguistic Minorities Prize (Italy); Berta Dávila (Galician language, Spain) – Young Talent Prize; Éamon Ó Ciosáin (Irish language, Ireland) – Translation Prize; Estelle Ceccarini (Occitan language, France) – Occitan Language Prize; Marie Olga Sohantenaina, aka "Olga del Madagascar" (Malagasy Tsimihety language, Madagascar) – Music Prize; Mano Khalil (Kurdish language, Syria) – Film Prize. Eight categories for eight artists who, accompanied by tutors, will spend the days of June 27-29 in Ostana engaging with the public in an atmosphere of cultural exchange and “convivència”.
Ines Cavalcanti, Artistic Director of the Ostana Prize, comments:
"All artists invited to the Ostana Prize share a multifaceted identity, that makes them to excel in their specific disciplines while simultaneously serving as vital anchors for their communities, catalysing a true reawakening of linguistic consciousness in their homelands. We aimed to highlight their linguistic and social resilience by pairing each with a defining trait they embody. Thus, language emerges as: instinct, shared belonging, self-determination, home, defiance, living memory, responsibility, cultural landscape. This stands as authentic witnesses to a philosophy that trusts in the wealth of human diversity and resists today’s pervasive cultural homogenization."
The 2025 Awardees: Stories and Program Highlights
Language as Instinct: Berta Dávila
“Language is the place from which every writer writes, the place through which they observe reality, engage with memory and imagination, and connect with thought and others.”
In an edition guided by the motto “Sensa raïtz pas de flors” (“Without roots, no flowers”), it is natural to think of mother tongues as instinctive forces, always reaching toward the future when given the chance to bloom. This year’s Young Talent Prize winner, Berta Dávila, embodies this spirit perfectly.
Born in 1987 in Santiago de Compostela, Berta is a poet and novelist, author of literary fiction and illustrated children’s books. Her poetry collection “Raíz da fenda” (“Root of the Crack”) won the “Johán Carballeira Poetry Prize”, followed by the “Spanish Critics’ Award” and the “Galician Writers’ Association Prize” for poetry. Among her novels, “The Last Book of Emma Olsen”—published in Italian by Aguaplano in 2022—has earned widespread acclaim, alongside her award-winning works for young readers.
Though deeply rooted in Galician literary tradition, her writing has reached a broad audience through translations into Spanish, Catalan, and Italian, proving her ability to transform literature into a cultural bridge, connecting generations and geographies while balancing memory and innovation.
The “Young Talent Prize” honours her exceptional trajectory as a writer and poet, her gift for renewing literary language with an authentic and original voice, and her role in bringing Galician literature beyond its natural borders.
Don’t miss:
Berta Dávila in conversation with Guglielmo Diamante: “New Technologies and Virtual Words in the Literature of a Young Galician Writer”
Saturday, June 28, 11:30 AM
Language as Sharing: Éamon Ó Ciosáin
"I didn’t do this work alone. I’ve always worked following the example of the 'meitheal'—the communal cooperation that is part of Irish culture. We are stronger when we work together. That’s why I believe the richness of mother tongues must be promoted through sharing, and that’s why I dedicate myself to translating them."
Translation and sharing are vital allies in the survival of mother tongues, and the Ostana Prize’s mission is precisely to create spaces for collaboration and positive cross-pollination, blending roots to revitalize linguistic biodiversity at risk of being lost under the weight of globalization. For this reason, the “Translation Prize” has always been a cornerstone of the Ostana Prize, and this year, it honours the invaluable and unique work of Éamon Ó Ciosáin.
Raised in a family that spoke Ireland’s ancestral Celtic language, Gaelic, Éamon discovered Breton during his university years, where he studied (and graduated) Old English and Old French. Fascinated by Breton, he deepened his studies in Brittany, where he encountered the works of several poets. This meeting inspired him to build a bridge between minority languages, leading Éamon to undertake the monumental task of translating Breton poetry into Irish Gaelic and vice versa. His goal: to raise awareness of contemporary Gaelic literature (largely unknown in France) and introduce Irish-language literature to Breton audiences, who have proven receptive and often enthusiastic.
Beyond co-authoring the “Irish-Breton Dictionary”, Éamon is a founding member of the Irish-language community radio station “Raidió na Life” and collaborates with Breton-language magazines, newspapers, and programs on local radio and “Radio France Bretagne”, where he comments on language policies in both countries. In 2024, he was awarded the “Order of the Ermine” in recognition of his contributions to promoting the Breton language and Brittany.
The Ostana Prize, in turn, celebrates his unparalleled commitment to building bridges between two languages of extraordinary cultural potential. His work proves that, in defending mother tongues, unity truly makes strength, now more than ever.
Don’t Miss:
Éamon Ó Ciosáin’s intimate conversation with Teresa Geninatti Chiolero, exploring his cross-cultural translations and advocacy.
Saturday, June 28, 4:30 PM
Language as Self-Determination: Kristian Braz.
"As a friend from Brest once told me: my mother tongue is not my mother’s language."
From childhood, Kristian Braz has pursued his language. Born in 1949 in the Monts d’Arrée, he was the youngest in a household where both parents, though native Breton speakers, chose to speak only French with their children. These were times when French was seen as the key to success.
But in the 1970s, at the University of Rennes, Kristian rediscovered an instinctive passion for Breton. He began studying it through every means possible: cinema, poetry, translation, activism. This marked the start of a lifelong journey to reclaim a mother tongue that was never truly maternal, a mission that turned militant in 1992, when Bretons were arrested for sheltering Basque fugitives: so Kristian collected over fifty testimonies to expose the facts, restoring dignity and rights to the activists. The resulting film became a landmark work, as did his translations of literary giants like Steinbeck, London, Salinger, and Kerouac into Breton.
A prolific writer of Breton-language children’s books (awarded for their educational value), Kristian has devoted his life to Breton through every possible channel: writing, research, radio, teaching, translation, and advocacy.
The Ostana Prize awards him the “2025 Special Prize” for his unparalleled commitment and determination to promote his mother tongue across all facets of culture, proving that linguistic self-determination is an act of resilience.
Don’t Miss:
Kristian Braz in Conversation with Bernez Rouz: “On the Power of Creating Literature”
Saturday, June 28, 2:30 PM
Language as Home: Mano Khalil
"Like all Kurdish children, I had a difficult childhood. Speaking Kurdish at school was forbidden, and to us, that seemed normal, yet at home, our parents told us Kurdish stories, and we listened to Kurdish music. I vividly remember wondering: why does a Kurdish song touch my soul so deeply, while an Arabic one doesn’t? The Kurdish song resonated in my heart. Why? Because I was different. My heart beat to different colours. That’s why I decided to dedicate my life to bringing Kurdish stories to the world."
For a people, speaking their own language is a way to feel at home, even when far from home, or when home is a place they cannot return to. Mano Khalil, this year’s (XVII edition) “Film Prize” winner, knows this well. Born in Syrian Kurdistan and forced to attend Arab schools, he studied History and Law at the University of Damascus. But in 1987, he moved to Czechoslovakia to study film, driven by the need to find a form of resistance beyond weapons, one that could defend rights, preserve identity, and uphold human dignity. He believed then, as he does now, that cinema is one of the most powerful mediums to express dreams, hope and humanity.
After working for Slovak television till 1996, year in which he directed “The Place Where God Sleeps”, a film about Kurds in Syria. Threats from the regime forced him into exile, and he settled in Switzerland, where he built a career in fiction and documentaries. In 2012, he founded his production company, Frame Film, and in 2021, his film “Neighbours” premiered at over 200 festivals (including Locarno), winning 70 international awards. The film depicts Kurdish culture suffocated and fractured across four nations intent on erasing its history, where language becomes the political bedrock of survival and self-determination of a whole people.
The Ostana Prize honours Mano Khalil’s extraordinary ability to universalize the Kurdish story, embodying language not just as resistance, but as home.
Don’t Miss:
Mano Khalil will explore "Cinema, Identity, and the Paradox of Exile" in conversation with Antonello Zanda of the Babel Film Festival, followed by a screening of his award-winning film Neighbours.
Friday, June 27, 8:45 PM
Language as a Tool of Resistance: Soulama Maténé Martine "Téné Tina"
“One of my sisters nearly lost her life in a forced marriage. At that point, I felt compelled to fight for women’s rights. I chose music and writing in our language as my tools, to reach as many people in our community as possible and raise awareness about these harmful practices in a language women understand.”
Soulama Maténé Martine was born in Burkina Faso’s Cascades Region, in the south west of Burkina Faso, where the Cerma language, spoken by 500,000 people across Burkina Faso and northern Côte d’Ivoire, thrives. A multitalented artist, singer, composer, playwright, actress, and writer, she is a fierce advocate for women’s rights, serving as Secretary General of the “Amazons of Santa” a Women’s Cultural Association.
Her work amplifies the struggles of rural women and girls, condemning pervasive violence: forced marriages, female genital mutilation, educational deprivation, social stigmatization, and domestic abuse. By writing in Cerma, her mother tongue, she ensures her message resonates within her community. She also leads initiatives to promote Cerma among younger generations.
Téné Tina proves that a mother tongue can indeed become a shield. The Ostana Prize awards her the “2025 International Prize” for her dual commitment to women’s rights and linguistic advocacy, hoping this global platform will expand her reach in the fight to end all violence and discrimination.
Don’t Miss:
"Mother Tongues, Women’s Rights, and Material Cultures" is the title of the conversation with Oliviero Vendraminetto.
Sunday, June 29, 10:00 AM
Language as Historical Memory: Francesca Sammartino
"Our language and identity have survived this long thanks to those who fought, and still fight, to ensure we’re not forgotten in who we are and keeping our words alive. We must leave traces of our present for our future. In 500 years, when our language may no longer be spoken, someone should still know our history, our roots, and our culture."
Francesca Sammartino (1994) was born and raised in Montemitro, a small village in Molise, part of Croatia’s Italian minority. Her family has been instrumental in preserving and promoting their language, the na-našo language, and Croato-Molisan culture, legacy of 16th-century migrations. Immersed in these traditions since childhood, Francesca now defends them with great passion.
Through Her academic work at the University of Zagreb, that led her to win prestigious awards and a professorship in Italian Studies, she focuses on the linguistic interplay between Croatian and Italian. This research has been pivotal in comprehension and safeguarding of na-našo, a critically endangered cultural treasure.
Beyond academia, as president of the “Agostina Piccoli Foundation”, she revitalizes language projects like literary anthologies and the "Večera Na-Našo" (Croato-Molisan Evening).
While continuing her parents’ meticulous activism with perseverance and patience, Francesca has become a beacon for younger generations, bridging tradition and innovation. The Ostana Prize honours her extraordinary work as a researcher, cultural activist, musician, and leader, whose determination has turned na-našo, an historical memory of a people and a true linguistic miracle that is being carried on as a lighthouse of hope for mother tongues everywhere and for the future.
Don’t Miss:
Francesca will share her journey in a session curated by Mariona Miret, titled "Guardians of a Living Language: Na-Našo in Molise
Saturday, June 28, 10:00 AM
Language as Responsibility: Olga of Madagascar
"The loss of two of my nephews in the shipwreck of a vessel illegally carrying rosewood logs from Madagascar was a tragedy that showed me how deeply the environment and humanity are intertwined: saving one means saving the other. So, I chose to use my voice—and the language of my culture—to support this mission. In Madagascar, people listen to singers more than politicians or journalists. That’s why I believe my work can make a difference."
Marie Olga Sohantenaina—known as Olga of Madagascar— has been living in Italy for many years, was born in Andapa, in northeastern Madagascar, a country of unparalleled biodiversity and a people of diverse origins. she channels personal grief into art, using her music to sound the alarm about the threats facing Madagascar’s natural treasures, ravaged by deforestation and habitat loss.
Thanks to her music, rooted in traditional rhythms and Malagasy-language lyrics, Olga utters a desperate plea to protect some of the world’s richest and most vulnerable ecosystems. She chose to sing primarily in her mother tongue because Malagasy itself embodies her mission: it belongs to the Austronesian family, essentially a dialect originating in southern Borneo—proof that cultures, like biodiversity, thrive when they mix and evolve.
To defend a language is to defend a habitat, a unique, irreplaceable world we cannot afford to lose. The Ostana Prize awards her the “2025 Music Prize” for her work in safeguarding linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity. Through her singular voice, she keeps these issues alive and drives change.
Her mother-tongue songs, about the land, discrimination, and preserving biodiversity in all forms, it’s a song that speaks powerfully to our times.
Don’t Miss:
Olga will engage in a conversation with Flavio Giacchero. Following the talk, the Ostana Prize Collective will host a serada en convicéncia—an evening of shared artistic creation and cross-cultural exchange.
Saturday, June 28, 9:30 PM
Language as Landscape: Estelle Ceccarini
"The choice of the Prize’s location feels significant to me: mountains today are a refuge for nature and biodiversity, and naturally, Ostana has become a sanctuary for linguistic and cultural diversity."
A mother tongue contains an entire world within it, and often, the very words we need to describe the landscapes around us—real or imagined—spring from this primal linguistic soil. Estelle Ceccarini (1978), raised among the ranchers between Nîmes and Petite Camargue, discovered in the language of her land: its horses, its plants, its horizons the poetry necessary to tell his places, since childhood. As a teenager, she deepens his knowledge of the language through reading the great Provençal authors (Mistral, D’Arbaud) while mastering classical Occitan orthography, unlocking giants like Max Roquette and Robert Lafont.
After earning a doctorate in Romance Studies at the École normale supérieure of Fontenay-Saint-Cloud, Obtaining a PhD in romance studies. She is currently Professor of Italian at Aix-Marseille University and earned accreditation in minority languages from France’s Conseil national des universités. A co-founder of the Rencontres de Salinelles festival for Occitan literature, she balances scholarship with a prolific poetic practice—crowned in 2023 by the prestigious Mistral Prize.
The Ostana Prize honours Estelle as the “2025 Occitan Language” for her extraordinary ability to channel the light of Camargue’s vast plains and the magic of her homeland into verse. Her work is a language-landscape: rooted in the great Occitan tradition yet alive thanks to contemporary authors that Estella is obviously undoubted referent, passed down like a treasure through generations.
Don’t Miss:
"From Childhood Landscapes to the Breath of Poetry" is the title of the session featuring Estelle Ceccarini in dialogue with Corinne Lheritier
Friday, June 27 at 4:00 PM, following the opening ceremony of the XVII Ostana Prize.
The Award Ceremony for the XVII Ostana Prize will take place on Sunday, June 29, starting at 2:00 PM. Hosted by Paola Bertello, the ceremony will feature alternating artistic performances with the award-winning authors, curated by the Ostana Prize Collective.
This year, for the first time, the ceremony will be broadcast via live stream and radio through our partnership with Radio Beckwith. Discover the 2025 awardees through their video statements on the Ostana Prize YouTube channel:
[PLAYLIST LINK]
The complete schedule of all Prize events is available and regularly updated on our website: www.premioostana.it. As always, all events are free and open to the public.
Organizing Committee
Giacomo Lombardo / President
Ines Cavalcanti / Artistic Director
With: Peyre Anghilante, Paola Bertello, Andrea Fantino, Teresa Geninatti, Matteo Ghiotto,
Flavio Giacchero, Mariona Miret, Luca Pellegrino, Marzia Rey, Fredo Valla.
Viso a Viso - Community Cooperative and Associazione Chambra d’Oc
For information:
chambradoc@chambradoc.it - +39 328 3129801 - www.premioostana.it
Press inquiries:
premioostana@gmail.com - +39 339 5252749
The "Ostana Prize: Writings in Mother Tongues – Escrituras en Lenga Maire" is an initiative conceived by Chambra d’Oc, promoted and supported by: Piedmont Region, Municipality of Ostana, CRC Foundation, CRT Foundation, Cuneo Tourist Board (ATL), CIRDOC, Occitan Pen Club, Babel Film Festival, Viso a Viso Community Cooperative
Hall of Fame: Languages Honored at the Ostana Prize
From Europe: Occitan (France/Italy), Friulian (Italy), Cimbrian (Italy), Ladin (South Tyrol), Sardinian (Italy), Romani (Romania), Slovenian (Slovenia/Italy), Aragonese (Spain), Galician (Spain), Basque (Spain), Catalan (Spain) – including Alghero variant (Italy), Maltese (Malta), Frisian (Netherlands), Griko (Italy), Breton (France), Romansh (Switzerland), Nynorsk (Norway), Sámi (Lapland: Norway/Sweden), Latgalian (Latvia), Scottish Gaelic (Scotland), Welsh (UK), Cornish (UK), Irish (Ireland), Albanian (Kosovo – ex-Yugoslavia), Chuvash & Even (Russia), Walser (Switzerland/Germany/Italy), Uralic (Eastern/Northern Europe), Arbëresh (Italy/Albania), Romani (Romania).
From Africa: Yoruba (Nigeria), Kabyle Amazigh (Algeria/Morocco), Tamasheq (Sahara), Cape Verdean Creole (Cape Verde), Dioula (Burkina Faso).
From Asia: Armenian (Armenia), Tibetan (China), Kurdish (Turkey), Hebrew (Israel), Karen (Thailand/Myanmar).
From the Americas: Huave (Mexico), Mazatec (Mexico), Totonac (Mexico), Cheyenne (USA), Navajo (USA), Shuar (Ecuador), Innu (Canada), Guaraní (Paraguay).
From Oceania: Māori (New Zealand).
Song info of the XVII edition:
Lyrics: Bernart de Ventadorn and Ostana Prize Collective
Music: Ostana Prize Collective
Production: Chambra d’Oc, XVII edition Ostana Prize
Recording, mix e master: Kalakuta ReCpublic Studio, Enrico Arnolfo
Music Video: Bruno Genotti
Ostana Prize Collective: Paola Bertello (vocals), Flavio Giacchero (bass clarinet), Luca Pellegrino (guitar, vocals), Marzia Rey (violin, vocals)
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