Matthew Victor Pastor

Matthew Victor Pastor is a Filipino Australian film director. His feature films explore Asian Australian identity,[1] and tell Filipino Australian stories.[2] An alumnus of the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne Faculty of VCA and MCM,[3] his feature film Melodrama/Random/Melbourne had its Australian premiere at the 2018 Adelaide Film Festival,[4] and was named Top Five Films for the week in The Age.[5] The film was also nominated for the 67th edition of the FAMAS Award (Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award) in the music category for his composer Fergus Cronkite (Andrew Tran).[6] Film critic Adrian Martin has called Pastor "an energetic and prolific filmmaker worth keeping tabs on."[7]

Matthew Victor Pastor
Pastor at the 2018 Sinag Maynila Film Festival
Born	(1989-03-02) 2 March 1989 Canberra, Australia
Alma mater	Victorian College of the Arts
Occupation	Film director film producer screenwriter actor
Years active	2013–present

Fil-Aus Trilogy

The Fil-Aus trilogy are three films exploring Filipino Australians identity.[8] 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."[9]

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.[10] Part three, Maganda, or (Pinoy Boy vs Milk Man), 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.[11]

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."[12]

The film was also an honorable mention in Rappler's 12 best Filipino Films of 2018.[13]

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."[14]

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."[5]

The film premiered at the 2018 Sinag Maynila Film Festival[15] and was awarded Best Original Score (Fergus Cronkite).[16]

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." [17]

Part 3 Maganda! Pinoy Boy vs Milk Man had its premiere at Monster Fest.[18][19] 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."[20]

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"[21][22]

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
2018	Melodrama/Random/Melbourne	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Celina Yuen
2018	MAGANDA! Pinoy Boy vs Milk Man	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Kiefer Findlow

Short Films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
2016	I am JUPITER I am the BIGGEST PLANET	Yes	Yes	Yes	Victorian College of the Arts graduate film
2019	Fun Times	Yes			Supported by Film Victoria, AFTRS, Screen Australia diversity talent fund

Experimental Works

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
2013	Made In Australia	Yes	Yes	Yes
2017	Butterfly Flower: Please Wait To Be Seated	Yes			Featuring Poetry by Khavn De La Cruz

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2017	Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival	Golden Reel Award - Best Short Film[23]	I am JUPITER I am the BIGGEST PLANET	Nominated
2017	Sinag Maynila Film Festival	Best Short Film	I am JUPITER I am the BIGGEST PLANET	Nominated
2018	Sinag Maynila Film Festival	Best Musical Score (Fergus Cronkite)[24]	MELODRAMA / RANDOM / MELBOURNE!	Won
2018	Sinag Maynila Film Festival	Best Director	MELODRAMA / RANDOM / MELBOURNE!	Nominated
2019	67th FAMAS Award	Outstanding Achievement in Musical Score	MELODRAMA / RANDOM / MELBOURNE!	Nominated

References

1. Darmadi, Mala (7 July 2018). "Crazy Rich Asians — the film sparking hopes for a diversity breakthrough". ABC News.
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "Emerging Filmmakers in the Spotlight | ACMI". 2015.acmi.net.au.
4. Frajman, Anthony (26 September 2018). "Matthew Victor Pastor: Melodrama Random Adelaide".
5. Wilson, Jake (9 November 2018). "Top five films: best of the big screen". The Age.
6. "FULL LIST: FAMAS nominees for its 67th edition". GMA News Online.
7. "Film Critic: Adrian Martin". www.filmcritic.com.au.
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. Kwai, Isabella (9 January 2019). "Asian-Australian Actors, Overlooked at Home, Flourish in Hollywood" – via NYTimes.com.
10. "All the Full-Length Films Screening at the 2018 Sinag Maynila International Film Festival". SPOT.PH.
11. "screen-space - Latest - FEATURES / WHY PINOY BOY FROM OZ MATTHEW VICTOR PASTOR IS LOCAL INDIE SECTOR'S M.V.P." screen-space.squarespace.com.
12. Cruz, Oggs. "Movie reviews: All 5 Sinag Maynila 2018 feature length films". Rappler.
13. Cruz, Oggs. "12 best Filipino films of 2018". Rappler.
14. "Matthew Victor Pastor". www.innersense.com.au.
15. Jr, Bayani San Diego. "Sinag Maynila tackles diverse social issues". entertainment.inquirer.net.
16. "Sinag Maynila 2018 Gabi ng Parangal: Complete Winners". Sinag Maynila Film Festival. 12 March 2018.
17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
18. "MAGANDA! PINOY BOY VS MILKMAN Trailer Drops! | Cult of Monster". cultofmonster.com.au.
19. "Matthew Victor Pastor".
20. "MAGANDA: PINOY BOY VS MILK MAN!". © FAKESHEMP.NET.
21. "Matthew Pastor: Australia's most prolific filmmaker". 14 October 2018.
22. "AFTRS and Screen Australia announce recipients of Talent Camp production funding | Media centre". Screen Australia.
24. "'Tale of the Lost Boys,' Allen Dizon lead all winners in Sinag Maynila festival awards". 12 March 2018.

External links

• Matthew Victor Pastor on IMDb