The winners of the 42nd Masi Prize

Theme: Roots and Perspectives. Awards: CIVILTA' VENETA: Mario Cannella, Andrea Rinaldo, Stevanato Group; CIVILTA' DEL VINO: Yuko and Shin Kibayashi; GROSSO D'ORO VENEZIANO: Rakhshan Banietemad.

Once again, for the 42nd edition of the Masi Prize, there will be five high-value personalities who will sign the famous barrel of Amarone in Valpolicella at the Masi winery headquarters on October 27; personalities whose skills and experience best interpret the "Roots and Perspectives" thread that the Juries followed in identifying the winners of the three sections.

Here are their names. For Venetian Civilization, internationally renowned lexicographer Mario Cannella, hydraulic engineer Andrea Rinaldo, recently awarded the "Nobel Prize for Water," and Stevanato Group, a historic Venetian company and leading manufacturer of glass containers for medicines, were awarded prizes. Two Japanese, Yuko and Shin Kibayashi, authors of the original manga "Drops of God" on wine culture, instead awarded the Wine Civilization Prize. Finally, receiving the Venetian Grosso d'Oro will be Iranian director Rakhshan Banietemad, who is committed through cinema to the struggle to promote human rights in her country, particularly women's civil rights.

"The main theme of the Masi Prize 2023 is 'Roots and Perspectives.' A contradiction in terms. It is, and it must be: in fact, it represents the only possible way forward for all of us who love to hold dear our precious traditions and at the same time look forward, innovate," explains the president of the Masi Foundation, writer, journalist Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti. "In an age when uncertainty permeates thoughts and behavior, anchoring to roots cannot be a chain that inhibits change, but rather the certainty of having sap that feeds the exploration of new paths."

Foundation vice-president and Masi president Sandro Boscaini adds, "The jury of the International Civilization of Wine Award could not have been more in tune with 'Roots and Perspectives.' In fact, it awarded a wine communication medium, the manga, that already since its birth in Japan and in perspective in many countries recently opened to wine, proposes its appreciation while respecting a symbol of ancient culture. In general, a more appealing communication for young people."

Marco Vigevani, secretary of the Masi Foundation emphasizes, "The Venetian Grosso D'Oro has always brought to light a message of culture and solidarity and civil progress in the world. It seemed extremely topical to highlight the discrimination that afflicts women in Iran and beyond, and we do so through the sensitivity of a great Iranian director, who has dedicated deep thoughts to human rights in her long and award-winning work."

Motivations:

MASI CIVILTA VENETA AWARD

Recognition to personalities - Venetian by birth, family or adoption - who have distinguished themselves in the fields of literature, art, journalism, science, entertainment and economics, and who through their work have promoted and enhanced the abilities of the people of Veneto in the broadest fields of human activity, making themselves bearers of the fundamental values of this land.

Mario Cannella

"Trieste lexicographer, editor of the Zingarelli vocabulary, for decades a curious and tireless investigator of the lexicon of Italian. He has played a leading role in affirming and spreading, even among the younger generations, the idea of our language as a living and constantly evolving organism, which cannot be arbitrarily deformed or artificially preserved.
He is being honored for his contribution to the deepening of the tradition and evolution of the Italian language."

Andrea Rinaldo

"A Venetian hydrologist engineer, professor of hydraulic construction at the University of Padua, and director of the Laboratory of Ecohydrology at the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, Rinaldo was the first Italian to win the Stockholm Water Prize, the "Nobel" for water studies. One of the pioneers of ecohydrology, which studies the relationship between river water and living communities, whether human, animal or plant.
He is being awarded for the importance of his highly topical studies aimed at the just distribution of water, one of the great global issues of today and tomorrow."

Stevanato Group

"Padua-based pharmaceutical industry: the incredible story of a small Venetian glassworks-the Soffieria Stella in Zelarino near Venice, heir to the centuries-old culture of Murano's glassmaking art-that, from 1949 to the present day, manages to become a world-leading medical company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with its highly specialized products for insulin, vaccines and many other drugs.
It is rewarded for the company's global success in the sign of a vocational continuity that draws on the culture and techniques of the Venetian regions."

MASI INTERNATIONAL WINE CIVILIZATION AWARD

It is dedicated to the great world of viticulture and honors the most representative personalities who have contributed internationally to enhance the ancient culture of vine and wine.

Yuko and Shin Kibayashi

"Brothers authors of the seinen manga (for young and adult readers) about wine 'Kami no shizuku' - 'The Drops of God.' With their work, pulled in more than 500,000 copies weekly and translated into several languages, they recount the discovery of wine as initiation and revelation.
They are being honored for their important contribution to the understanding and promotion of ancient wine culture through an original and entirely new form of communication capable of conveying an unconventional message to an audience approaching wine and its tradition for the first time."

MASI INTERNATIONAL GROSSO D'ORO VENETIAN AWARD

It is reserved for personalities who have contributed to spreading a message of culture in the world, generating that understanding among peoples that develops into solidarity, civil progress and peace.

Rakhshan Banietemad

"Iranian film director and screenwriter: through her films and documentaries, she has succeeded in telling the daily life and dramatic events of her country like no one else, giving her stories and characters a universal value.
She is being honored for the high artistic value of her work and for her advocacy of civil rights and democracy in Iranian society."

The award ceremony will be streamed live from the Pieve di San Giorgio di Valpolicella on Friday, October 27 at 6:30 p.m.

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The event will also be broadcast on TeleArena on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 9:15 p.m.