Marissa Anita (born in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia on 29 March 1983) is an Indonesian journalist, actress and television news presenter. She began her acting career as a theatre actress in 2005, but rose to prominence in 2008 as a TV news reporter and later anchor for
Metro TV. Her acting career took off in 2013 with a supporting role in
Lucky Kuswandi's drama ''
In the Absence of the Sun'', for which she won a
Maya Award for Best New Actress.
She has received three
Citra Award for Best Supporting Actress nominations for her roles in
Joko Anwar's ''
Impetigore
''Impetigore'' () is a 2019 Indonesian horror film written and directed by Joko Anwar. The film stars Tara Basro, Marissa Anita, Christine Hakim, Asmara Abigail, and Ario Bayu. The film follows Maya (Basro), who travels with her friend Di ...
'' (2020) as well as Lucky Kuswandi's ''Galih & Ratna'' (2017) and ''
Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens'' (2021), winning the latter. In addition to her
Maya Award for Best New Actress trophy, she has also received three additional nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role (''
Solo, Solitude'') and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (''
Impetigore
''Impetigore'' () is a 2019 Indonesian horror film written and directed by Joko Anwar. The film stars Tara Basro, Marissa Anita, Christine Hakim, Asmara Abigail, and Ario Bayu. The film follows Maya (Basro), who travels with her friend Di ...
'' and ''Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens'').
Early life
Anita is of
Minangese Indonesian descent from her mother's side and a mix of
Javanese and
Chinese descent from her father's side. She is a middle child in her family and she has an older brother and a younger brother. Anita graduated top of her class with a bachelor's degree in
TESL
Teaching English as a second (TESL) or foreign language (TEFL) and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are terms that refer to teaching English to students whose first language is not English. The terms TEFL, TESL, and TESO ...
from
Atma Jaya Catholic University in 2005, followed by a master's degree in Media Practice from the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
in 2007 and another master's degree in Digital Media and Society from
Loughborough University
Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...
in 2017.
Career
Anita began acting in stage plays in theater with The Jakarta Players community in 2005 while she was still studying in school and has since starred in more than a dozen plays. Upon completing her master's degree in Sydney, she joined the 24-hour news station
Metro TV in 2008 as a reporter before becoming an anchor for the ''8–11'' program alongside Tommy Tjokro and Prabu Revolusi as well as the weekly English-language news program ''Indonesia Now'' alongside former
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
anchor
Dalton Tanonaka
Dalton Ichiro Tanonaka (born June 13, 1954) is an American television executive. He has spent most of his career in Asia, receiving several international and US. awards for his journalism work. Tanonaka is also known for his community service, pr ...
.
In 2010, Anita starred opposite
Atiqah Hasiholan in ''Broken Vase'', a queer short film directed by Edward Gunawan. The following year, she again starred opposite Hasiholan in ''Borrowed Time'', another short film co-directed by Gunawan and
Lucky Kuswandi. In both short films, she was credited as Marissa Trigg. Anita then had cameo and minor roles in films such as ''Wanita Tetap Wanita'',
Nia Dinata's ''
Arisan! 2'',
Joko Anwar's
''Ritual'', and
Rako Prijanto's ''
3 Nafas Likas''.
Anita left Metro TV and joined
NET in 2013 to host the ''
Indonesia Morning Show''.
Since then, she began to appear in more substantial film roles while still maintaining her job as a television presenter. In 2014, she had a breakthrough with a role in Lucky Kuswandi's sophomore feature film ''
In the Absence of the Sun''. Her performance as Naomi, a former lover of
Adinia Wirasti's character Anggia, garnered praise and earned her a
Maya Award for Best New Actress.
Anita's next film appearances did not come until 2016 with a leading role in
Yosep Anggi Noen's biographical drama ''
Solo, Solitude'' as Sipon, the wife of disappeared poet and activist
Widji Thukul and a supporting role in Kuswandi's 2017 drama ''
Galih & Ratna'' as Tantri, the aunt of the titular character Ratna played by
Sheryl Sheinafia. She was nominated for a
Maya Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in ''Solo, Solitude'' and a
Citra Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter.
In March 2019, Anita launched ''Greatmind.id'', an online media platform that explores ideas, aspirations, and advocacy on various topics of life, serving as its lead editor. In June, Anita left her job at NET, months before she was billed to appear in two
Joko Anwar's projects. In August, she appeared as Kurniati Dewi, the mother of Sancaka, in
''Gundala'', the first entry in the
Bumilangit Cinematic Universe film series. In October, she co-starred as Dini, the best friend of
Tara Basro's character Maya in ''
Impetigore
''Impetigore'' () is a 2019 Indonesian horror film written and directed by Joko Anwar. The film stars Tara Basro, Marissa Anita, Christine Hakim, Asmara Abigail, and Ario Bayu. The film follows Maya (Basro), who travels with her friend Di ...
'', alongside
Ario Bayu and
Christine Hakim. Both films were critical and commercial success, with ''Impetigore'' being selected as the
Indonesian entry for the
Best International Feature Film category at the
93rd Academy Awards
The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021 ...
and breaking the record for most nominations at the
40th Citra Awards. Anita received her second
Citra Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for ''Impetigore'', but lost to co-star
Christine Hakim. She then reunited with Yosep Anggi Noen for ''
The Science of Fictions''.
In 2020, Anita appeared in two segments of the anthology film ''
Quarantine Tales.'' She joined
Najwa Shihab's Narasi TV in July to host her own talkshow ''Enaknya Diobrolin'' and the newly launched
SEA Today
SEA Today (abbreviation from Southeast Asia Today) is an Indonesian English-language news and lifestyle television channel targeting Southeast Asian and international audiences. The news channel is owned by PT Metra Digital Media (MD Media), a su ...
in October to host its flagship morning news program.
Anita next appeared in
Kamila Andini's ''
Yuni'' and Lucky Kuswandi's
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
original ''
Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens.'' For her performance as Mia Harrington in the latter, she won the
Citra Award for Best Supporting Actress, beating her co-star
Asri Welas, ''Yuni'' co-star
Asmara Abigail,
Dea Panendra (
''Photocopier''), and
Djenar Maesa Ayu (''Cinta Bete'').
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anita, Marissa
1983 births
People from Surabaya
Indonesian actresses
Indonesian journalists
Indonesian television presenters
Indonesian women television presenters
University of Sydney alumni
Maya Award winners
Living people
Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia alumni
21st-century Indonesian women journalists
21st-century Indonesian journalists