“Sky Builder” Among the Top Three at Prix Italia
“Sky Builder”, a videographic concert by the State Ensemble LIETUVA and LRT, has reached the final of Prix Italia, one of the most important international competitions for television, radio and digital content. An international jury named the Lithuanian production one of the top three entries in the TV Performing Arts category, alongside productions by Germany’s ARD and Italy’s Sky, according to an LRT press release.
This marks a historic achievement for LRT as well: in 2026, Lithuania’s public broadcaster reached the Prix Italia final for the first time. A total of 226 entries from 52 countries were submitted to this year’s competition, with 19 broadcasters advancing to the final stage. LRT is one of five broadcasters to achieve this for the first time.
“Sky Builder” was initially one of three LRT productions on the Prix Italia shortlists before advancing to the final top three.
In the Performing Arts category, the Lithuanian production will compete against works by two major players in the European audiovisual market. Italy is represented by Sky’s archive-based documentary about Oliviero Toscani, one of the country’s most renowned photographers. Germany is represented by an ARD production about the legendary actress and singer Hildegard Knef. Prix Italia’s finalist announcement describes “Sky Builder” as combining orchestral music, contemporary dance, theatre and advanced projection technology.
Ensemble LIETUVA’s Idea Takes Flight
The journey of “Sky Builder” began in Lithuania, with an idea from the State Ensemble LIETUVA to tell the story of Antanas Gustaitis – the aviator and designer behind the ANBO planes – and the pioneers of interwar Lithuanian aviation through the language of contemporary performance. The concert was created to mark the centenary of the ANBO aircraft. The Ensemble initiated and produced the project and realised it together with co-producer LRT and a large team of artists from different creative disciplines. The television recording was directed by Kornelijus Jaroševičius.
“It is symbolic that the title of this work, ‘Sky Builder’, also carried a subtitle: ‘The ANBO Journey That Never Ends’. At the Kaunas Sports Hall, we told the story of the pioneers of Lithuanian aviation in the interwar period and their drive to fly out into the world. Today we can celebrate that our production, too, has taken off internationally. Just as an aircraft is never the work of one person alone, this concert was built by an enormous team,” says stage director Dalius Abaris.
According to him, the idea of creating a story about Antanas Gustaitis and interwar aviation originated within the Ensemble. At the centre of the production are therefore the Ensemble’s choir and dance performers, its National Instruments Orchestra conducted by Egidijus Kaveckas, and the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gintaras Rinkevičius.
“To be frank, when creating a production, what matters most to me is not the role of the director itself, but the opportunity to work with talented people. That is why today I am celebrating together with composer Kipras Mašanauskas, scriptwriter Mindaugas Nastaravičius, choreographer Aušra Krasauskaitė, music arranger Jievaras Jasinskis, video artists Lukas Miceika and Domas Verikas, lighting designers Andrius Stasiulis and Pijus Norušis, executive producer Modestas Jančiulis, television recording director Kornelijus Jaroševičius and the entire LRT team. I believe ‘Sky Builder’ is a strong example of collaborative creation that can inspire others to take on ideas that may initially seem risky or technologically challenging, but which carry genuine meaning,” says Abaris.
Television recording director Kornelijus Jaroševičius emphasises that the task of the television version was not simply to document a large-scale stage production, but to find an independent visual language for the screen.
“Directing a work like this for television begins with a deceptively simple question: how can we allow the viewer in front of a screen to feel what someone in the hall experiences live? In ‘Sky Builder’, music, dance, choir, orchestras, actors, video projections, lighting and the very space of the Kaunas Sports Hall all operate simultaneously. The camera therefore cannot remain merely an observer. It becomes part of the storytelling. I am particularly pleased that the international jury recognised and appreciated the work as a whole, built by this enormous team. And the fact that a Lithuanian story about our aviation history now stands in the final alongside productions by Europe’s major broadcasters is powerful proof that we can tell our own stories ambitiously, in a contemporary way and in a language that the world can understand,” says Jaroševičius.
A Lithuanian Story Alongside Europe’s Audiovisual Giants
This year’s Prix Italia final features many of Europe’s largest broadcasters and platforms, including ARD, Sky, France Télévisions, RTVE, RAI and ARTE. The BBC is also represented in the final stage, with James Blake’s widely discussed “Men of the Manosphere” competing in another category. Within this international context, a Lithuanian production reaching the top three in the Performing Arts category represents not only recognition of a specific project, but also acknowledgement of the professionalism of Lithuania’s stage and television creators.
The 78th Prix Italia will take place from 28 September till 2 October in L’Aquila, the Italian Capital of Culture 2026. The competition winners will be announced on 2 October.
The videographic concert “Sky Builder” has also been nominated in the competition programme of the 63rd Golden Prague International Television Festival, in the Recordings of Stage Work category. This year, an international five-member jury selected a total of 34 television productions devoted to music, dance and theatre for the second round of the competition. “Sky Builder” will compete against productions submitted by broadcasters and producers from various European countries and around the world. The Golden Prague International Television Festival has been held since 1964 and is dedicated to television and film productions about music, dance and theatre.
“Sky Builder” is available to watch on LRT Mediateka (in Lithuanian).
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