MATTHEW VICTOR PASTOR (FILM DIRECTOR)
Matthew Victor Pastor is a Filipino Australian filmmaker. An alumnus of the prestigious Victorian College of the Arts his feature and short films have been selected at over 70 international film festivals. In October 2020 The Neon Across the Ocean (91 mins) world premiered at the 44th São Paulo International Film Festival. In 2021 A Pencil to the Jugular (121 mins) premiered at the Moscow International Film Festival (the second oldest film festival in the world). Recently he worked on two feature films which premiered at the 70th Melbourne International Film Festival as associate producer on Anak (91 mins) and as director of photography on PUB: The Movie (78 mins).
In 2018 Melodrama / Random / Melbourne won Best Original Score at the 2018 Sinag Maynila Film Festival and was selected to have its Australian premiere at the 2018 Adelaide Film Festival. It was also nominated for the 67th edition of the FAMAS Award (Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award) in the music category.
In November 2019 A Bigger Jail premiere at Monster Fest Australia's leading genre film festival and the Darwin International Film Festival premiered his short documentary Between Worlds: Filipino / Australian.
Screen Australia, Film Victoria, and AFTRS have funded his short film Fun Times which was penned by AACTA nominated writer Llewellyn Michael Bates. It premiered at the 37th St Kilda Film Festival and had a successful run at both Academy & Goya qualifying film festivals, winning best film & best screenplay at the 25th Canberra Short Film Festival.
Related to media he has been a speaker, advisor and mentor at many organisations like Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV), Cinespace, VACCHO, Asialink and the University of Melbourne focusing on storytelling through the medium. His vlogs and social media posts have strong community engagement and have generated over 10 million views on TikTok and counting. This led to a documentary about social media ‘Untitled / Unfinished’ which premiered at the 26th Revelation Perth Film Festival. “Rather than romanticising the everyday, Pastor strips back the “day in the life” format seen in the other TikToks to something more firmly rooted in his own experience” (Jamie Tram, The Age 2023)
“It’s about seeing those faces, it’s about seeing those stories. It has a lot of weight.”, said Matthew Victor Pastor, in a 2019 interview with The New York Times. One thing is for sure, the young director will stop at nothing to see diverse stories told.
On the set of Fun Times which received production funding from AFTRS, Film Victoria and Screen Australia
(Matthew Victor Pastor with writer Llewellyn Michael Bates and producer CJ Welsh)
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
Short: Untitled / Unfinished (17 mins, 2023)
Feature: A Pencil to the Jugular (121 mins, 2021)
Feature: The Neon Across the Ocean (91 mins, 2020)
Short: Fun Times (7 mins, 2020)
Documentary Short: Between Worlds: Filipino / Australian (11 mins, 2019)
Feature: A Bigger Jail (82 mins, 2019)
Experimental Feature: Repent or Perish (84 mins, 2019)
Experimental Feature: MAGANDA! Pinoy Boy vs Milk Man (95 mins, 2018)
Experimental Feature: Melodrama / Random / Melbourne (82 mins, 2018)
Experimental Feature: Butterfly Flower: Please Wait To Be Seated (70 mins, 2017)
Short: I am JUPITER I am the BIGGEST PLANET (15 mins, 2016)
Short: Down Under (7 mins, 2015)
FILM FESTIVALS / AWARDS
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Anak (Directed by Caleb Ribates, 91 mins, 2022)
World Premiere: 70th Melbourne International Film Festival
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
PUB (shared credit - Directed by Andrew Leavold, 78 mins, 2022)
World Premiere: 70th Melbourne International Film Festival
WRITER / DIRECTOR / PRODUCER
Untitled / Unfinished (2023)
World Premiere: 26th Revelation Perth International Film Festival - Australia
17th Sydney Underground Film Festival - Australia
*Honourable mention award - 28th Canberra Short Film Festival - Australia
A Pencil to the Jugular (2021)
World Premiere: 43rd Moscow International Film Festival - Russia
North American Premiere: 25th Urbanworld Film Festival - U.S
Australian Premiere: 25th Revelation Perth International Film Festival - Australia
The Neon Across the Ocean (2020)
World Premiere: 44th São Paulo International Film Festival (Mostra) - Brazil
13th Cinema Rehiyon Film Festival - Philippines
24th Revelation Perth Film Festival - Australia
23rd Recontres internationales du cinema des Antipodes - France
Fun Times (2020)
Awards:
25th Canberra Short Film Festival, Best Film (National Category)
25th Canberra Short FIlm Festival, Best Screenplay
Official Selections:
World Premiere: 37th St Kilda Film Festival, Australia (June, 2020 World Premiere)
23rd Revelation Perth International Film Festival, Virtual Edition - Australia
14th Sydney Underground Film Festival - Australia
6th Minikino Film Week - Indonesia
9th Toyama Film Festival - Japan
10th Adelaide Film Festival - Australia
36th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival - U.S
25th Festival Cine Zaragoza - Spain
25th Canberra Short Film Festival - Australia
23rd Revelation Perth International Film Festival, Cinema edition - Australia
16th Festival Internacional de Cine Rengo - Chile
9th Festival Internacional de Cine de Hidalgo - Mexico
1st International Short Film Festival "La mida no importa-Size doesn't matter" - Spain
4th Santander Festival Internacional De Cine Independiente - Chile
37th Adelaide Fringe Festival (UNDEREXPOSED Program) - Australia
25th Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival (Semi Finalist) - U.S
4th Cinevoyge Film Festival - India
3rd Muestra De Cinema De Leon - Mexico
3rd Kuala Lumpur Film Festival in the Sky - Malaysia
12th Ay Guana Shorts - Mexico
9th LIFT OFF GLOBAL: First Time Filmmaker Online Sessions
8th Puerto Madryn International Film Festival - Argentina
33rd Girona Film Festival - Spain
1st Paus Premieres Festival
12th Indian Film Festival Melbourne - Australia
23rd Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma des Antipodes - France
Between Worlds: Filipino/Australian (2019)
World Premiere: 9th Darwin International Film Festival - Australia
1st Korean Pinoy International Film Festival - Korea
3rd Diwa Filipino Showcase Seattle - U.S
3rd Cefalu Film Festival - Italy
4th Multicultural Film Festival - Australia
A Bigger Jail (2019)
8th Monster Fest - Australia
Repent of Perish (2019)
13th Oz Asia Festival - Australia
Melodrama / Random / Melbourne (2018)
Awards:
67th FAMAS (Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences), Best Musical Score (Nomination)
Sinag Maynila Film Festival (Best Musical Score, Winner)
Official Selection:
9th Adelaide Film Festival - Australia
4th Sinag Maynila Film Festival - Philippines
5th Mammoth Lakes Film Festival - U.S
26th FACINE (Filipino Arts and Cinema) - U.S
1st Australian New Wave, 2018 - Australia
MAGANDA! (2018)
7th Monster Fest - Australia
Butterfly Flower (2017)
Kampot Readers & Writers Festival - Cambodia
I am JUPITER I am the BIGGEST PLANET (2016)
Awards:
47th Victorian College of the Arts Graduation Award - Australia -
Best Achievement in Directing (Masters) - New Voice Award (Supported by Madman & ACMI) 33rd Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival - NOMINATION - Golden Reel Award
3rd Sinag Maynila Film Festival - NOMINATION - Best Short Film Director
Official Selection:
14th World Film Festival of Bangkok - Official Selection - Thailand
6th Monster Fest - Official Selection - Australia
22nd Festival Caminhos Cinema Português - Official Selection - Portugal
3rd Sinag Maynila Film Festival - Official Selection - Philippines
33rd Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival - Official Selection - USA
8th Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival - Official Selection - Malaysia
3rd Mammoth Lakes Film Festival - Official Selection - USA
7th Pune Short Film Festival - Official Selection - India
1st Charlotte Asian Film Festival - Official Selection - USA
3rd Minikino Film Week - Official Selection - Indonesia
11th Bali International Film Festival - Official Selection - Indonesia
10th Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival - Official Selection - USA
4th Kampot Readers & Writers Festival - Official Selection - Cambodia
4th CineKasimanwa: The Western Visayas Film Festival - Official Selection - Philippines
1st FFIFA, Formosa Festival of International Filmmaker Awards - Official Selection - Taiwan
25th Filipino American Film and Video Festival (FACINE) - U.S
47th Victorian College of the Arts Graduation Screening (ACMI) - Australia
The CILECT PRIZE - Selection to represent Victorian College of the Arts - Australia
Winter Edition - Slow Canoe Journal - Official Selection - Australia
2nd North Bellarine Film Festival - Official Selection - Australia
Down Under (2015)
Awards:
Best Short Film Director - 16th Melbourne Underground Film Festival (shared with Dinky-Di Aussie)
Summer Quarter Asians on Film Festival - Cinematography (Matthew Victor Pastor) Music (Edward Trinh) 15th DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival (18th April, 2015)
Official Selection:
16th Melbourne Underground Film Festival
2015 Asians on Film Festival - Summer Quarter
2015 Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival
2016 Asians on Film Festival - Annual (Main Competition)
2016 Silk Road Film Festival
Dinky-Di Aussie (2014)
16th Melbourne Underground Film Festival (shared with Down Under)
Ghost Man (2012)
San Pedro International Film Festival (2013)
Melbourne Underground Film Festival (2013)
Made In Melbourne Film Festival (2013)
Wasaga Beach Short Film Festival (2013)
Best of Comfy Shorts (2015)
Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival (2016)
RANDOM (2010)
2011 Melbourne International Student Film Festival
2012 Colourfest Film Festival