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What is the Prix Italia?
In 1948, the Prix Italia was founded on the island of Capri as an International Competition and, while originally dedicated to radio productions, in 1957 it was expanded to television programmes and, since 1998, also to multimedia projects.
At first, it was only addressed to public service broadcasters, but over the years it has welcomed private broadcasters with national coverage from all over the world.
It is today a major International Event, a crossroad of exchanges, an opportunity for discussion among top professionals and meetings open to the public, a showcase for university students of the hosting city to promote their proposals through the Prix Italia creative laboratory YLAB.
The Festival is annually organised by RAI - Radiotelevisione Italiana S.p.A., within the framework of RAI’s International Relations and European Affairs Department.
History
The idea of awarding a top international radio prize was first put forward in the spring of 1948 during a meeting between the General Director of RAI Salvino Sernesi, the Programme Director Giulio Razzi as well as the Head of Drama and the Revue Sector Sergio Pugliese. The 13th September of that same year was the date set so as to convene in Capri the delegations of 14 radio broadcasters, representing Austria, the Vatican State, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Principality of Monaco, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and Trieste, at that time a free territory.
An invitation to join the community was then extended to the United States, UNESCO and a number of cultural bodies, such as the Italian Centre for Radio Studies, attending as observers.
Learn more about our history.
Who can participate
Only broadcasting organisations duly authorised by competent authorities may participate in the Competition.
They must provide a national service or guarantee, through forms of association, the widest broadcasting in their country of the programmes that are entered in the Competition and assume editorial, creative and financial responsibility for the programmes they broadcast. Excellence is the governing principle running through our “International Community” of a number of Radio and TV organisations from the five continents.
Learn more about this year's competition.
The juries
The International Juries, the very core of the Competition, are composed of renowned communication professionals,
They have constantly distinguished themselves for their mastery and expertise, working in a stimulating and rewarding atmosphere, where cultural identity and geographic diversity are expressed freely.
Each year, the Juries honour the best productions which stand out for their innovation and quality, both in language creativity and content.
People and prizes
Over the years, a wide range of top international artists, leaders in their own respective fields, have presented their works at the Festivals: outstandingly gifted artists, writers (Berthold Brecht, Riccardo Bacchelli, Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino, Eduardo De Filippo, Françoise Sagan), film directors (Ermanno Olmi, Francesco Rosi, Krzysztof Zanussi, Sidney Pollack, Roberto Rossellini, Lars Von Trier, Peter Greenaway, Anthony Minghella, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Joan Kemp-Welch, Wim Wenders, Toby Haynes, Jacques Maillot) choreographers and composers (Luciano Berio, Nino Rota, Bruno Maderna, Flavio Emilio Scogna, Lorenzo Ferrero, Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, John Cage, Carl Orff, Igor Stravinskij, Kjersti Alveberg, Corey Baker to name but a few).
Furthermore, the long list of Prix’s celebrated winners includes such prestigious international names as Ingmar Bergman, Harold Pinter, Daisy Lumini, Eugène Ionesco, Federico Fellini, Samuel Beckett, René Clair, Werner Herzog, Colin Firth, and indeed several others.