A Sharpsburg native is paying tribute to his hometown with a documentary highlighting an Italian American immigrant who brought over more than just luggage with him from Italy. Pete Ferraro, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker, producer and writer, will premiere his documentary, “il Messarggero” — “The Messenger” — Oct. 1 on WQED.

Ferraro spoke Italian before learning English and grew up surrounded by Italian Americans, many of them first generation Americans. About a decade ago, Ferraro, 55, discovered more than 100 taped recordings made by his beloved late father Pietro Ferraro and was inspired to produce a documentary about the Italian American community in Sharpsburg.