Until January 30th, the popular vote is open for everyone who is interested in the Brazilian community cultural environment in the United States. The votes are cast through the web site www.pressaward.com/english/index.htm.
Traditionally, the popular vote is the first and foremost step towards defining the winners for the most prestigious and important Brazilian award in the United States.
Since it was launched in 1996, the “Brazilian International Press Award” steadily gained strength and importance as the ultimate recognition for people, institutions, events and initiatives that promote and highlight the Brazilian presence in the United States.
The popular vote decides the nominees (3, 5 or 7) in several categories. After that, a Panel of Journalists and Cultural leaders make the final cut and choose the winners.
The award ceremony is set for May 10 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, in Fort Lauderdale. Florida. It expects to gather 700 guests from all over the U.S. Brazil, Europe, Asia and Africa, in a universal celebration for Brazilian culture.
Carlos Borges’s Vision
The Brazilian International Press Award’s was created and is managed by Carlos Borges, a 49-year-old well-known Brazilian journalist and TV producer, with 33 years of award-winning performance both in journalism, television productions and events. Borges has lived in Florida for 15 years and now resides in Fort Lauderdale:
“I think the growing success of the Press Awards is largely due to its seriousness and very deep commitment to people and institutions which really care about Brazilian culture and community.
“That’s the only reason I can explain the partnerships that we have attracted and the high sense of quality and prestige we have achieve in all those years”, says Borges, who works all year round not only registering all kinds of Brazilian cultural activities in the U.S, and abroad, but travels intensively to contact a wide spread range of Brazilian promoters, media and community leaders in the U.S.
“This has been an experience of a lifetime for me. I came to America with a vision, maybe too pretentious, but very true for me, to make something happen in order to show Brazilians and North Americans the world of possibilities in this special connection.
“Brazil and U.S. have so many genres in which they can mutually contribute and develop, and definitely, arts & culture are the key factors in the whole strategy”.
The creator of the event is especially proud to remark that the “Press Award” is presented not only for Brazilians, but also people and institutions, regardless of their roots or background:
“We are very proud of that. We look for any initiative or performance, which shows Brazil, Brazilians and our culture under a bright and positive light. That is our unbreakable commitment”, he says.
Carlos Borges also highlights the importance of Broward Center for the Performing Arts and TAM-Brazilian Airlines in this achievement:
“The BCPA has been absolutely supportive. They understand like no other cultural institution in the United States, the tremendous potential of the cultural exchange between Brazil and the United States. So does TAM-Brazilian Airlines. I am not afraid to admit that BCPA and TAM were the “key factors” for the growth of the event in recent years”.
