History and Winners
Prix Italia was founded by RAI in 1948 on the island of Capri. Its 62nd edition will
be held in September 2010 in Torino.
It has been staged in almost all important cities of Italy, a fact which has greatly contributed to its
extraordinary international prestige. Prix Italia’s long list of winners includes names of writers,
directors and producers who make up the history of international television.
Among the innumerable personalities who over the years have entered their works are writers such as Jean
Anouilh, Riccardo Bacchelli, Heinrich Böll, Bertolt Brecht, Italo Calvino, Jean Cocteau, Eduardo De Filippo,
Marguerite Duras, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Umberto Eco, Max Frisch, John Osborne, Alain Robbe-Grillet,
Françoise Sagan; directors such as David Attenborough, Ermanno Olmi, Sidney Pollack, Francesco Rosi,
Roberto Rossellini, John Schlesinger, Andrej Wajda, Krzystof Zanussi. Among the winners are equally
illustrious names such as Samuel Beckett, Ingmar Bergman, Peter Brook, René Clair, Federico Fellini,
Werner Herzog, Peter Greenaway, Eugène Ionesco, Kean Loach, Harold Pinter, Dylan Thomas.
The Membership
Prix Italia's partners and permanent members are made up of 87 public and private Radio and Television
companies, representing 46 countries from all five continents. Only Prix-members can enter programmes into
the competition. The organisational and decision-making structure is unique among the many international
prizes and festivals in as delegates of all member organisations meet twice a year for a General Assembly
to take strategic decisions and elect the President.
Festival
The festival is held each year during the second half of September and is accompanied by a series of
major cultural events and performances. Attending are high-ranking representatives from the media world
such as directors, producers, writers, as well as Italian and foreign press. RAI ensures wide radio and
TV coverage on its channels and is responsible for the prize-awarding ceremony. Prix Italia particularly
caters for good relations with the local area by widely promoting all events and providing full information
for both the general public and special interest groups. During the Prix Italia-week, RAI presents its
major previews of its autumn-season with the participation of the respective main actors.