The annual awards were initiated in 2008 by AVAKA (audiovizualinių kūrinių autorių teisių asociacija), the (national) Association for Author Rights of Audiovisual Artists.
The award statuette of the crane was created by Audrius Liaudanskas [lt].
In Lithuanian, as in English, the word "gervė", 'crane', means both a bird and a lifting device on which cameramen ride.
During the ceremony, the Golden Crane (Auksinė gervė) award, for the merits to the national cinema, is also presented.
Also, since 2009 an award for the best student work of the year was issued, which was named Sidabrinės gervės kiaušinis ("Silver crane egg") in 2012.