Filipino audiences in Hong Kong will have the opportunity to experience Richard Soriano Legaspi’s documentary Ang Walang Kapagurang Paglalakbay ng Pulang Maleta (The Untiring Journey of the Red Suitcase) as part of the Migrant Workers Film Festival 2026, running from September 11 to 13.
The festival will screen films across several venues, including the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Sha Tin, New Territories; KUC Space along Jordan Road in Jordan; and Bayanihan Centre on Victoria Road in Kennedy Town, Hong Kong Island.
Set in Biella, a quiet province in northern Italy’s Piemonte region known for its wool industry, the documentary explores how Filipino migrant workers built a sense of community and belonging in a foreign land. As local textile mills experienced factory closures and economic changes, Filipino families continued to weave their culture, traditions, and relationships into everyday life in Italy.
The film traces the journey of Loreta Mercado, who arrived in Biella in 1978 with little more than her dreams and determination. Her experience eventually became a family legacy, with her niece Roan Asuncion carrying the story forward by establishing a local mini-mart that became a gathering place for Filipinos, Italians, and other immigrant communities.
Through intimate storytelling, Ang Walang Kapagurang Paglalakbay ng Pulang Maleta goes beyond familiar narratives of migration by focusing on the sacrifices, friendships, cultural connections, and resilience that shape the lives of Filipinos living far from home.
Funded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Migrant Workers Film Festival provides a platform for stories that reflect the experiences of the global Filipino diaspora. This year’s edition is particularly significant as it coincides with the 40th anniversary of Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge and the 30th anniversary of Migrante International.
The 2026 lineup also features landmark films spanning nearly four decades, including Migrante (AsiaVisions, 1987), Modern Heroes, Modern Slaves (Marie Boti and Michelle Smith, 1997), and Gusto Nang Umuwi ni Joy (JT Pandy, 2014).
“From historical narratives to contemporary stories, this festival brings together films that explore migration through the lives of the people who experience it,” organizer Rose Roque said. “Stories of departure, separation, labor, and survival. Stories of women who build lives far from home. Stories of communities that organize and struggle.”
Following the September screenings in Hong Kong, organizers plan to bring the festival to the Philippines in October, with educational workshops, community discussions, and outreach programs aimed at continuing conversations on migrant worker rights and advocacy.
Legaspi is an interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker whose work focuses on social transformation and community dialogue. An alumnus of the University of the East College of Fine Arts, Architecture, and Design, where he studied Advertising Arts, he later became a fellow of the Asian Film Academy in Busan, South Korea.
His film Ambulansya (Ambulance) screened at more than 40 international film festivals and helped establish his presence in the international film community. In 2013, he became a UNESCO Laureate artist bursary recipient, leading to a three-year residency at Università delle Idee (UNIDEE) in Italy, where he also received the Illy Design Prize for Art for Social Change.
Legaspi’s works have been presented across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including exhibitions in Berlin, Taiwan, and Poland. He is currently developing the feature film The Legend of the Wild Rose Mallow, which was selected for the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ ISAPELIKULA Lab.
“After the film’s festival circuit before the pandemic, The Untiring Journey of the Red Suitcase documentary is continuously serving its purpose to share its narrative with a lot of Filipinos working abroad,” Legaspi shared. “Now our kababayans in Hong Kong will be able to see the poetic journey of the red suitcase and hopefully will also be inspired by the colorful life of Loreta and Roan and the close-knit Filipino community of Biella.”
Produced through a collaboration among UNIDEE, Illy-Italy, GMA News TV, and Red Room Media Productions, Ang Walang Kapagurang Paglalakbay ng Pulang Maleta continues to bring Filipino migrant stories to international audiences while highlighting the strength of community, identity, and belonging across borders.
