Matthew Victor Pastor


Matthew Victor Pastor is a Filipino Australian film director. His feature films explore Asian Australian identity, and tell Filipino Australian stories. An alumnus of the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne Faculty of VCA and MCM, his feature film Melodrama/Random/Melbourne had its Australian premiere at the 2018 Adelaide Film Festival, and was named Top Five Films for the week in The Age. The film was also nominated for the 67th edition of the FAMAS Award in the music category for his composer Fergus Cronkite. Film critic Adrian Martin has called Pastor "an energetic and prolific filmmaker worth keeping tabs on."

Fil-Aus Trilogy

The Fil-Aus trilogy are three films exploring Filipino Australians identity. During the release of the trilogy, when asked by The New York Times alongside fellow Asian-Australian talent Chris Pang and Charlotte Nicdao about Asian-Australian representation Pastor said, "It's about seeing those faces, it's about seeing those stories. It has a lot of weight."
Part one, I am Jupiter I am the Biggest Planet, is a silent short film set in the red-light district of Manila. Part two, Melodrama/Random/Melbourne!, is a narrative feature film about a young feminist documentarian and her journey documenting the Men's rights movement and Seduction community PUA movement. Part three, Maganda, or, is an '80s Filipino/Australian B movie throwback about a deranged killer dubbed the Milk Man who murders Asian international students & the assassin Pinoy Boy on a mission to stop him.
In a review of Melodrama/Random/Melbourne Oggs Cruz of Rappler said:
"A stunning discovery, Matthew Victor Pastor's Melodrama/Random/Melbourne! is a pastiche of many attempts—both somewhat successful or outright failures—to be something. Vague in terms of form and substance, the film, without even perusing its scatterings of plot and characters, is a brash reflection of the waywardness and captivating caprice of the unique millennial culture brought about by cross-border migration. The setting here is Melbourne, a city that the film depicts as one that is undergoing transformation into a bustling center of distinct Asian influences. However, its young and rebellious citizens, heirs of those from a generation that needed to make the city its home, are themselves repelling the waves of new migration, sowing seeds of division."
The film was also an honorable mention in Rappler's 12 best Filipino Films of 2018.
On Melodrama/Random/Melborune!, Bill Mousoulis the founding editor of Senses of Cinema said:
"This is breathtaking cinema that is just extraordinary. It's one of the best Australian films of this decade." He also described Pastor as "the most dynamic young filmmaker I've come across in 35 years of indie film watching in Australia."
Jake Wilson of The Age said:
"In the spirit of Godard and Wong Kar-Wai, local writer-director Matthew Victor Pastor throws every available idea into this wild goose chase through Melbourne after dark... An arresting introduction to a talent going places."
The film premiered at the 2018 Sinag Maynila Film Festival and was awarded Best Original Score.
In a negative review, Stephanie Mayo of Concept News Central said:
"Twenty minutes into the movie, I walked out of the cinema. I could no longer endure the film. I thought it pretentious and messy, and the sex talk stilted."
Part 3 Maganda! Pinoy Boy vs Milk Man had its premiere at Monster Fest.
Glenn Cochrane of Fakeshemp.net said, "There isn't a filmmaker in Australia as distinctive or eccentric, and what MVP puts on the screen is the entire inner-workings of his mind. MAGANDA is a culmination of his past work and serves as a self-inflicted exorcism of his mind's congestion."

Current projects

He is in post-production on a number of diverse Asian Australian films, dealing with social issues unique to the Australian landscape. With these projects currently in post-production If Magazine coined him, "Australia's most prolific filmmaker"

Filmography

Feature films

Short Films

Experimental Works

Awards

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
2017Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film FestivalGolden Reel Award - Best Short FilmI am JUPITER I am the BIGGEST PLANETNominated
2017Sinag Maynila Film FestivalBest Short FilmI am JUPITER I am the BIGGEST PLANETNominated
2018Sinag Maynila Film FestivalBest Musical Score MELODRAMA / RANDOM / MELBOURNE!Won
2018Sinag Maynila Film FestivalBest DirectorMELODRAMA / RANDOM / MELBOURNE!Nominated
201967th FAMAS AwardOutstanding Achievement in Musical ScoreMELODRAMA / RANDOM / MELBOURNE!Nominated