(30 Dec 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Pan of truck with Iemanja statue arriving at Copacabana beach
2. Wide of Umbandists celebrating
3. Pan of boat with wishes and thank you notes being taken out of the truck
4. Wide of followers carrying boats filled with flowers
5. Pan across crowd gathered under marquee
6. Wide of band and singers performing
7. Wide of Iemanja statue, band standing behind
8. Mid of boats with wishes to Iemanja
9. Close up of notes with well wishes to Iemanja, flowers in boat
10. Wide of statues and flowers
11. Various of dancing
12. Mid of drummers
13. Wide of singers and band
14. Mid of people singing
15. Mid of Russian tourist, Vlad Tatarhitsev, standing with friend
16. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vlad Tatarhitsev, Russian Tourist:
"It's really amazing. I don't suppose to see something like this here. It's really amazing, I like it!"
17. Wide of people at beach offering gifts
18. Wide of Umbandist offering a boat full of gifts and wishes
19. Wide of another Umbandist offering a boat full of gifts and wishes
20. Umbanda Priest, Miriam d'Oya, walking and singing with group
21. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Miriam d'Oya, Umbanda Priest
"Our main goal is to thank Iemanja for this year, for everything that happened in our lives. Asking for peace, health, calmness not only for Brazil but for the World."
22. Zoom out from Sugar Loaf mountain to people offering gifts to Iemanja at the beach
STORYLINE:
The city of Rio de Janeiro opened its new-year celebrations on Monday with the traditional Festa de Iemanja at the world famous Copacabana Beach.
Around 4-thousand Afro-Brazilian cult followers, local citizens and international tourists joined the event.
The lemanja Party, organised by a Rio de Janeiro-based merchant association, is in its 6th year.
Organisers run the event to praise Iemanja, who they consider the "mother of all saints."
Iemanja is the mother goddess of the Yoruba people of Nigeria.
She is the patroness of birth and worshipped primarily by women.
Among the Brazilian Umbandists, Iemanja is the goddess of the sea and patroness of shipwrecked persons.
She is offered flowers, gifts, perfume and rice which are set into little boats and cast adrift into the sea, or else tossed directly into the water.
Umbanda priest, Miriam d'Oya, explained why the celebration is so important at the end of each year.
"Our main goal is to thank Iemanja for this year, for everything that happened in our lives. Asking for peace, health, calmness not only for Brazil but for the World," she said.
Tourists from all around the world are in Rio this week to usher in 2009, escaping from a cold start to the new year in the northern hemisphere.
The traditional new year's eve party at the beach in Rio started with the Umbanda and Candomble faith followers.
When the celebration became widely popular, organisers decided to bring the party forward to December 29 each year.
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