Timothy Mark Pimentel Eigenmann in real life, Sid is a multi-award winning actor most recently known for his gripping performance in the internationally acclaimed film Norte: The End of History. His work has been recognized both locally and abroad. Sid’s acting career started with GMA Network’s Hanggang Kailan (Until When). He then landed the lead role in ABS- CBN’s Filipino fantasy series Krystala. He has since worked with both network giants— playing memorable roles like Alfred “Red” Ramirez in hit drama series Dahil May Isang Ikaw (Because of You). Sid comes from a family of notable actors in Philippine show business. His screen name is taken from his father Mark Gil’s iconic character in the Filipino classic Batch ’81. Sid is of German–American descent. Most recently, Sid won the Best Actor Award for his role in Toto at the LA Comedy Festival.
In the movie TOTO, ANTONIO “TOTO” ESTARES comes from Tacloban, Philippines, a place ravaged by Typhoon Yolanda. His mother has cancer. He works at a hotel in Manila, and tries every which way to get to the U.S. so he can support his family – which he has been doing since his father died and left them penniless. His father had made it to Las Vegas to become a stage act and promised to petition his family, but he ended up a dishwasher who drank and gambled away everything. The only thing Toto inherited from his father is the obsession of the dream, which he has forged into his own, and is intent on fulfilling it, because it was also once his mother’s hope. 

Toto makes one failed attempt after another to get a U.S. visa, risking friendships, his job, a lot of borrowed money, his dignity, and his heart. What he does not realize is that, in a way, he has already made it to America. The hotel is America. Its U.S. guests represent the good, the bad, and the ugly of America. After Toto meets the bad and gets ripped off, he loses hope. Yet it is a good American that helps Toto, in a most unexpected way. 

TOTO is all about the power of the dream. Although the failures of his father haunt him, it’s the power of his father’s dream that fuels him, not just for himself, but for those he loves, to help better their lives and achieve their own dreams. Some call it the American Dream, but for those beyond the U.S. it’s simply “the dream”. After all, there is a TOTO that resides in all of us.
According to Sid,  the lesson of the story is "That there is no shorcut, if you do, act on it, just do it, and if you failed, do it again, over and over again. Do it the right way, or nothing will happen."

Here are the videos during Blog Con with Sid Lucero;


The indie comedy “Toto” and its lead star, Sid Lucero, won at the 19th Los Angeles Comedy Festival and this is John Paul Su’s directorial debut, about a hotel room attendant who takes desperate measures to obtain a U.S. visa, was named Best Foreign Film, while Sid Lucero was proclaimed Best Actor in the festival’s film competition.

The Los Angeles Comedy Festival is the largest comedy festival in the United States that features not just films but also live comedy acts, TV pilots. music videos and a screenplay competition.
Direk JP Su, talks about the movie Toto, "As an immigrant myself, I am deeply attracted to Toto’s story for the way it speaks to the tension between integrity and compromise in the journeys of all outsiders. In moments of self-doubt, do you give up or do you soldier forward in pursuit of the dream? This is a question that, as a filmmaker in a new land where I was a complete unknown, I was constantly forced to ask myself."
Despite (or perhaps because of) the huge divide between rich and poor in the Philippines, “dreaming big” is an integral part of the cultural DNA, and 'TOTO' is, on one hand, a satire of the veneration of wealth and celebrity in a society where opportunity and resources are still scarce.
But it is also an allegory of the immigrant experience in general, seizing upon the luxury hotel where Toto works— with its glamorous classic Hollywood facade — as a symbol of the American Dream, and the sordid infrastructure as a persistent reminder, to Toto and to us, of the often treacherous underworld upon which that facade depends on.
Here are the videos during Blog Con with Direk JP Su;




CAST OF CHARACTERS (in order of appearance)

SID LUCERO - ANTONIO “TOTO” ESTARES
DAVID CHRISTOPHER FARMER - GROSS/ IMMGIRATION OFFICER #1
BEMBOL ROCO - FERNANDO ESTARES
NEIL RYAN SESE - JUNJUN
THOU REYES - YAM ESTARES
MARA LOPEZ - TESSA
CARLO CRUZ - CHRISTOPHER
LIZA DINO - EVE PORTER
BLAKE BOYD - DAVID YELTSIN
SHIELA VALDERAMA - WOMAN ON TV
LORENZ MARTINEZ - MAN ON TV
JELSON BAY - FRANCISCO
CHE RAMOS - CONTESSA
LOUISE FABELLA - BENILDA
BONG MENDOZA - UNDER COVER COP1
NATHANE SAMSON - UNDER COVER COP 2
AARON ALEXANDER MARTINEZ - CALLBOY
RAFA SIGUION-REYNA - FERDIE
BIBETH ORTEZA - REMEDIOS ESTARES
MARNIE LAPUS - CARMEN
YUKI PAVINO - JELY
RAUL MONTESA - REY
ANALIN BANTUG - KELLY/IMMIGRATION OFFICER #2
CASSANDRA CRUZ - CORAZON ESTARES
GIAN CARLO GO - MICHAEL ESTARES

WINNER:

Audience Choice Award for Best Film, 39th Asian American International Film Festival
Best Foreign Feature Film, 19th L.A. Comedy Festival
Best Actor, 19th L.A. Comedy Festival
Special Jury Prize, 41st Metro Manila Film Festival
Best Director, 41st Metro Manila Film Festival
Best Supporting Actor, 41st Metro Manila Film Festival
Best Supporting Actress, 41st Metro Manila Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION:

Asian American International Film Festival
Hawaii International Film Festival
Los Angeles Comedy Festival
Metro Manila Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
Palm Beach International Film Festival
Rome Independent Film Festival

Watch the trailer here;



Do catch Sid Lucero as TOTO (Graded A and with English subtitles), showing today, November 23 in cinemas nationwide!

For more details: https://www.facebook.com/totothemovie