By Casey Neill
A Dandenong filmmaker made it onto the small screen during a trip to Los Angeles.
Matthew Victor Pastor, 28, hit the red carpet at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on 28 April to promote his silent film I am Jupiter I am the Biggest Planet.
The event at the Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California, was an Academy Award qualifier and Jupiter was nominated for the Golden Reel Award for Excellence in Short-Form Narrative Filmmaking.
“LA went really, really well,” Mr Pastor said.
“We didn’t win, unfortunately, but the amount of love and support the film got was amazing.”
He said making his first American TV appearance, on Kababayan Today, was a highlight.
Giselle “G“ Tongi interviewed Mr Pastor, who has Filipino heritage, on the daily talk show for and about the burgeoning Filipino American community.
I am Jupiter I am the Biggest Planet is set in Manila’s red light district.
“The characters don’t talk. Maybe they’re too damaged to say a word,” Mr Pastor said.
The film made its debut at the Monster Fest in Melbourne and also screened at the 14th World Film Festival of Bangkok in Thailand.
Mr Pastor is wrapping up feature film Butterfly Flower: Please Wait to Be Seated and expects a release date later this year.
He’s also filming Maganda: Pinoy Boy vs Milk Man (Down Under) in his parents’ Dandenong home.
In the action comedy, the world’s deadliest Filipino assassin is in Australia to get revenge.
Front Row Features correspondent Nino Llanera talks to filmmaker Matthew Victor Pastor during the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival opening night gala:
