Biography

Matthew Victor Pastor is a Filipino Australian filmmaker. An alumnus of the prestigious Victorian College of the Arts, his Masters' film I am Jupiter I am the Biggest Planet was awarded Best Director and went on to screen at over 20 international film festivals. In 2020 The Neon Across the Ocean (91 mins) world premiered at the 44th São Paulo International Film Festival (Mostra). In 2021 the A Pencil to the Jugular (121 mins) World Premiered at the 43rd Moscow International Film Festival. Both films are part of his 2020 trilogy of pandemic themed feature films with a third film in post-production.

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 2018, MAGANDA! Pinoy Boy vs Milk Man a hybrid-experimental-exploitation-art feature film he directed and starred in had its premiere at Monster Fest Australia's leading genre film festival.

Screen Australia, Film Victoria, and AFTRS have funded his new short film Fun Times which was penned by AACTA nominated writer Llewellyn Michael Bates. The film has played 20 international film festivals and continues its run at Academy & Goya qualifying short film festivals. It recently won Best Film (national) at the 25th Canberra Short Film Festival.

"It's about seeing those faces, it's about seeing those stories. It has a lot of weight.", said Matthew Victor Pastor, in an interview with The New York Times. One thing is for sure, the young director will stop at nothing to see diverse stories told.
- IMDb mini biography by: Lorena Zarate

If you don't have the right work ethics or social skills all you have is a piece of paper. (The Age, 24/10/2010)

Made In Australia is my autobiographical film, it's near impossible for me to watch over without getting emotional. It's the time stamp of when I lost my innocence and experienced an out of the body experience from a broken heart.

We need more Asians writing and producing films, so we can see ourselves represented as fully fleshed characters, and in turn, encourage our community to pursue creativity. (ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Without Asians behind a project, our perspective is lost, authenticity should be a selling point, it's the reason works of art are revered, for their unique point of view. (ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

It's about seeing those faces, it's about seeing those stories. It has a lot of weight. (The New York Times, Jan. 9, 2019)