The Cordas World Music Festival, better known locally as Festival Cordas, released the documentary CORDAS last summer, with footage about the festival and the host island.

“It’s been an unexpected success,” admits producer Terry Costa. “And it’s only a year after its release that the documentary has begun to be embraced by festivals in the English-speaking world.”

The CORDAS documentary has already been shown at 182 festivals in 46 countries, and the thirty-second award comes from the Hollywood Gold Awards. “Just the fact that our work has reached so many corners of the world is already satisfying; being nominated, or even winning awards, is a bonus,” says Terry Costa. It didn’t win gold, but the Silver Award for Short Documentary was given to CORDAS, which satisfied the producer.

With images and editing by Diogo Rola, the documentary arrived in Australia, Canada, and the United States of America this August. It has already been screened in Scotland at the Feel the Reel International Film Festival, receiving a nomination for Best Short Doc. This week, MiratecArts, the entity that produces the festival and documentary, received news that the work made it into the official selection for the Liverpool Indie Festival, where only 20% of the 669 candidate films were accepted. “Through the arts, we can bring the four corners of the world closer together, and this project is just one success story that still has a long way to go,” concludes Terry Costa.

The Cordas Festival occurs annually in Madalena, on the island of Pico, Azores. The next edition is planned for October 1 to 8, from the highest point in Portugal to the natural pools of Pico, from the CeIIa Bar to the Madalena Auditorium.

The Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute at Fresno State congratulates the phenomenal Terry Costa for his vision, energy, and dedication.  This young man inspires anyone in the cultural and artistic world.

This story is from the newspaper Tribuna das Ilhas–Horta, Açores

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Medial Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno.