PLEASE HELP US RAISE THE MONEY TO TELL THIS INCREDIBLE STORY.
Combined Forces Production Collaborative is producing a film on the remarkable story about an Italian boy named Gino, orphaned during the Second World War, found, nourished, loved and adopted by Canadian soldiers during the liberation of Italy from Nazism and Fascism.
The film is linked to the 80th anniversary of Operation Husky,
the Allied Landing in Sicily and the ensuing Italian Campaign.
In 1983, Gino, then in his forties, receives a strange letter accompanied by an old photo of Canadian soldiers. By reading the name of Lloyd ‘Red’ Oliver, a light sparks inside of him. He remembers this name… ‘Red’ was one of the Canadian soldiers who took care of him during the war after he was found astray at five years old in a quarry near Torrice, south of Rome. Gino is suddenly brought back to his forgotten past, inspiring a quest for rediscovery into the truth of his origins.
AN AMAZING STORY OF HOPE
This story bears witness to the resiliency of the human spirit through friendships built during times of war and the amazing initiatives of Canadian soldiers. For Gino, remembering the legacy of caring extended to him as a young boy exposes the strong bonds and memories which have endured more than 80 years after the war. Through Gino’s quest to recollect his memories, we follow how the past unfolds into the present. This amazing story, born out of the ashes of war, serves to emphasize the importance of remembering the past, allowing present and future generations to understand how even the smallest acts of kindness can have an enormous impact, even in the midst of war.