Biella, Italy has been famous for its main industry of wool-making for several years now. But as time passed by, each wool they have been weaving were slowly declining due to the shutdown of factories and the downfall of industries.
Each fabric of wool has been trying to weave together the culture, history and people of Biella, including the Filipino workers and their families who continuously toil and embrace Italy.
This documentary tells each story of love, travails and sacrifices of our fellow Filipinos in order to create a community where the culture of both worlds can be freely woven together.
It started with Loreta Mercado, a Filipina who arrived in Biella in 1978, bringing along with her the thread of her dreams and one local young man followed that thread until he married and taught Loreta to weave their lives and beliefs together. Being the first Filipina to love this province, Loreta’s love for her husband, child and for Biella, symbolizes her untiring journey as the red suitcase from the East.
She did not keep her fortunes to herself and despite the difficulty; she bravely pulled each fabric that links her siblings and relatives until they arrived in Italy. And for almost three decades, although these fabrics sometimes got entangled with each other, Loreta’s niece, Roan Asuncion, has been known to be the youngest weaver of migrants in the Piemonte region. Her small business, the Filipino Store or Tropical Mini-Mart serves as a spindle that connects not only Filipinos but the other nationalities as well. Because of this, Roan and her mini-store serves to unite and weave tightly the relationships of Filipinos, Italians and other people with the variety of food offered in her store.
It is true that many factories of wool have closed shop. It is true that Italy has gone through an economic crisis. And most of all, in every turn of the spindle to release the colorful fabric and yield textiles from the machine, it is true that each strand represents the different nations who continuously travel to Biella.
Richard Soriano Legaspi's "Ang Walang Kapagurang Paglalakbay ng Pulang Maleta" ("The Untiring Journey of the Red Suitcase") is the story of Filipinos who tirelessly travel to work, dream and overcome the challenges of life in Biella, Italy.
Catch this documentary at the 1st CineTotoo Philippine International Documentary Film Festival presented by GMA News TV Channel 11. Eleven documentaries in competition will be screened from September 24 to 30 in SM Megamall, SM Manila, and Trinoma Cinemas.
