Mother of the Dawn

In the early 1950s, in a remote corner of Brazil, a female truck driver named Tia Neiva started having visions of extraterrestrial spirits; shortly after, she began to gain a following, which led to her creation of a religion called Vale do Amanhecer (Valley of the Dawn) which practices various elements of Christianity, Spiritism, Umbanda, and religious beliefs in UFOs. In our documentary, Mother of the Dawn, we explore how this religion came to have 800,000 followers, but is virtually unheard of to the rest of the world. (South by Southwest Film Festival)