«St.Gallen feels like home»

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Hi, I'm Bela Padilla and I'm an actress from the Philippines. I'm also a scriptwriter and since recently an author and a film producer. In the Philippines, I'm mostly known as a TV-actress. In the past years I've been casted for a lot of work in the drama genre. The one film I've participated in last December is a romance drama that plays here in St.Gallen.

That's exactly what people always ask me! (laughs) One of the reasons might be, that the Philippines is a very catholic country. The name «St.Gallen» has an extra draw for us. It feels like somewhere you could find shelter, when you're going through rough patch. The name sounds so comforting. Plus, my director is a big fan of Christmas villages. She looked for good ones online and she found the one in St.Gallen to be more than appropriate.

When I entered the «Hotel am Ring», where I was staying, I was overwhelmed by the amount of angels painted everywhere. There were angels on the walls, on the ceiling, everywhere. It was the biggest amount of angels I've ever seen in my life! (laughs) I actually thought the entire city would be that way. When I stepped out into the city, St.Gallen seemed much like a normal European city. But to me, it's so much more than that. During my stay, I was invited to bake cookies at a friend's place. The moment I walked into the apartment, I immediately I thought I was home. Even my director says: «St.Gallen is my sanctuary.» When I returned from the «Säntis» mountain one day, I realized: St.Gallen is my home. It's amazing, how four days of shooting can do that to a person.

They are so nice! I get the feeling that the people here all know each other. Maybe it's because of the size of the city. But one can also see, that people genuinely want to talk to each other and that's such a good thing. (Long, thoughtful pause) I hope it's like that forever and will still be here when I return to St.Gallen.

It's a romance drama, centered on two characters. They find each other by coincidence, three times in their lives, four years apart. They first meet in 2012, then in 2016, and lastly 2018 in St.Gallen. The two people are never quite whole, and they always have to let go. But they keep finding each other. And one day, my character, Celeste, says: «Meet me in St.Gallen.»

We tried to put as much St.Gallen in as possible. One third of the movie will be playing there. We shot in the cathedral, under the big christmas tree next to it and we even had a choir sing for us. The movie will show bits of the Christmas market, the three lakes above the city and the little funicular that goes up there. It was amazing. I'm really excited for Filipinos to see this beautiful European city. In my experience, everytime a Filipino film crew left to shoot in Europe, they automatically went to Barcelona or to Italy or to France. It's really nice to show such «big love in such a small city» for once.

(laughs) I do not. I've been single for a year.

Oh yes! There are so many romantic spots. Plus it's so cold in winter, you have to automatically hold hands, just to get some warmth! (laughs) And I really did fall in love with the city. I'm not saying that just for the interview. I like to think of St.Gallen as my homebase in Europe.

The trailer of «Meet me in St.Gallen»