Writer/director Cutter Hodierne, one of Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces of 2012 and the director of the short and feature Fishing without Nets, is currently fundraising for a new film, The Shepherd, a UFO thriller to be hot in the Sacred Valley of Peru. Based on a short film currently in post, and co-written with star Amiel Cayo, The Shepherd is about a rural herder searching for his missing daughter who becomes paranoid and beset with visions following a mysterious event.

From the press release:

The Shepherd is a sci-fi thriller set in one of the most formidable, mystical and lush landscapes on the planet, the Sacred Valley of Peru. Combining an observational realism of rural life, with the sci-fi awe and wonder of a Spielerg alien encounter film, this uncommonly photographed landscape writhes with tension and fear, as the shepherd takes on powers much larger than himself, both human and supernatural.

One part family film with deep emotional resonance, one part horror film of corporate-capitalists attempting to subjugate a powerless indigenous community, The Shepherd is a magnifying glass on the colonization of South America that’s lasted centuries. The film explores what we need to do in order to protect our family, our culture and our ancestors, all told through the mind bending experience of an alien encounter.

“The screenplay is a deeply personal exploration of mortality and the emotional toll death takes on surviving family members” said director Cutter Hodierne. “I was initially drawn to this story because of the fascinating intersection between ancient Incan culture and the high number of UFO sightings in the Andes. But as I dove into the development of the story I found there was a depth of meaning that was incredibly personal. I wondered if extraterrestrials were our ancestors and if their visits to our dimension are a way for us to connect with their spirits.”

Hodierne’s previous Fishing without Nets was similarly developed from a short film, a process that the writer/director explains more thoroughly in the funding deck attached to his WeFunder page, where he’s raising $600,000 to make the movie. Learn more about his process via the WeFunder page and check out the feature teaser, above.