''The Bit Player'' ( fil, Ekstra) is a 2013 Filipino socio-realist

drama-comedy Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film by Jeffrey Jeturian. The film stars

Vilma Santos Rosa Vilma Tuazon Santos-Recto (, born November 3, 1953) is a Filipino actress, singer, dancer, TV host, producer, and politician. She served as a House Deputy Speaker since 2019 to 2022 and as the Representative of Batangas' 6th district since ...

as Loida Malabanan, who spends her days dreaming of her big break while working with the country’s best small screen actors. The film competed under the Directors Showcase sidebar of

9th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival The 9th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival was successfully held from July 26 to August 4, 2013 in Metro Manila, Philippines. This year's theme is "Synergy of the Senses", which makes the entries to deliver mature content and provocative themes ...

. It topped the box office in all four venues of said festival. The film was released in mainstream theaters by

Star Cinema ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. (doing business as Star Cinema or ABS-CBN Films) is a Philippines, Filipino film studio and film and television production company and film distributor headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the major film ...

on August 14, as part of their 20th Anniversary offering. The film had its international premiere at the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. '' The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and '' Life of Crime'' was the closing film. 75 films were ...

, set from September 5 to 15, under Contemporary World Cinema section. It also showed at the 2013

San Diego Asian Film Festival The San Diego Asian Film Festival ( SDAFF) is an annual event organized by Pacific Arts Movement (formerly the San Diego Asian Film Foundation) that takes place every November in San Diego, California. Background SDAFF is the flagship event for ...

Plot

The film follows a seemingly usual day in the life of Loida Malabanan (

) as she embarks on yet another shooting day of a soap opera as an

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

. As the shoot goes on, we get a glimpse of the truth in the ruling system of the production as well as the exploitation of the

marginalized Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...

laborers A laborer (or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor types in the construction industry workforce. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their labor. Industries e ...

like her.

Cast

as Loida Malabanan *Fatima Centeno *Marlon Rivera *Vincent de Jesus *Ruby Ruiz *Tart Carlos *Hazel Faith Dela Cruz *

Marian Rivera Marian Rivera Gracia-Dantes (; born 12 August 1984) is a Filipino recording artist, actress, and commercial model. She gained prominence as a widely-acclaimed actress for her roles in '' MariMar'', ''Dyesebel'', '' Amaya'', ''Darna'' and '' Te ...

Piolo Pascual Piolo Jose Nonato Pascual (, born January 12, 1977) is a Filipino film and television actor, singer, model, and producer. Early life Piolo Jose Nonato Pascual was born on January 12, 1977, in Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center located in Malate ...

Cherie Gil Evangeline Rose Gil Eigenmann (; June 21, 1963 – August 5, 2022), known professionally as Cherie Gil, was a Filipino actress. With a career spanning nearly 50 years, she was dubbed the "''La Primera Contravida''" ("The Prime Villain") for he ...

Pilar Pilapil Pilar, Portuguese and Spanish for pillar, may refer to: People * Pilar (given name), a common abbreviation of ''María del Pilar'', including a list of people so named * Pilar (surname), a list of people surnamed Pilar or del Pilar Places Argen ...

Tom Rodriguez Bartolome Alberto Mott (born October 1, 1987), known professionally as Tom Rodriguez, is a Filipino-American model, actor, host and singer. Biography Rodriguez is from Catbalogan, Samar. He was born in Subic Naval Base in Zambales to an Ameri ...

Eula Valdez Maria Julia Amorsolo Valdes (; born December 11, 1968), professionally known as Eula Valdes, is a Filipino actress, best known for her role as Amor Powers in the original version of ''Pangako Sa 'Yo'' (2000) and as Janice in the ''Bagets'' film ...

Cherry Pie Picache Cherry Pie Sison Picache (born May 27, 1970) is a Filipino actress who has starred television and in mainstream and independent films and has worked as a print and TV commercial model for Palmolive, Camay, and Eskinol. Cherry Pie is notable ...

Richard Yap Richard Edison Uy Yap (born May 18, 1967) is a Filipino actor, singer, model and businessman of Chinese descent. He is best known for portraying Richard "Sir Chief" Lim in ''Be Careful with My Heart'' and "Papa Chen" in ''My Binondo Girl''. ...

Terence Baylon Terence Dale Niño Baylon (born April 26, 1984) is a Filipino actor and model. He started making movies and commercials at the age of 7. When he was 4 years old, he joined ''Eat Bulaga!'' search for ''Little Mr. Pogi''. Although he did not win th ...

Awards

(Directors Showcase) **Special Jury Prize **Audience Choice **

NETPAC The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the inst ...

Award **Best Actress –

**Best Supporting Actress – Ruby Ruiz **Best Screenplay **Nominated–Best Film Gawad Tanglaw Awards 2014 **Best Actress - (Vilma Santos) 13th Dhaka International Film Festival **Best Actress - (Vilma Santos) 2015 New York Festivals **Best Feature Film - Bronze

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bit Player 2013 films 2013 comedy-drama films Philippine independent films Star Cinema films 2013 independent films Philippine comedy-drama films Films directed by Jeffrey Jeturian