By Casey Neill
A South-East Melbourne filmmaker is hitting big screens across the Philippines.
Matthew Victor Pastor’s full-length movie MELODRAMA / RANDOM / MELBOURNE! played in SM Cinema Manila for a week for the Sinag Maynila Film Festival.
“When it came to awards night, we were nominated in best film, best director, best cinematography and best original score,” he said.
“We ended up taking best original score for my composer, who is a childhood friend who originally went with me to Nazareth College.
“His stage name is Fergus Cronkite.
“He’s been my composer since back in film school.”
Mr Pastor, who moved from Dandenong to Hampton Park since he last spoke to the Journal, said he was nervous about the film screening.
“You kind of just make films, but you don’t really know what’s going to happen with them,” he said.
“When you get acknowledged for your hard work it’s an overwhelming feeling.”
He said MELODRAMA / RANDOM / MELBOURNE! was about a Filipino-Australian feminist documentarian “who is making a film dealing with race, gender, sexism in the context of the Asian diaspora”.
“It’s a film about a filmmaker making a film, which is very meta,” he said.
“It doesn’t happen a lot in Australian feature film.
“It’s not really a narrative we pursue.
“Another reason for the film’s narrative is to reflect a part of the community that I feel needs representation.
“I feel these films are important because Filipinos are the fourth largest migrant group in Australia.”
He hopes to bring it to Australian audiences.
In May last year, the he told the Journal about hitting the red carpet at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival to promote his silent film I am Jupiter I am the Biggest Planet.
That movie also tapped into his Filipino heritage.
Mr Pastor has more films in the pipeline. MAGANDA! Pinoy Boy vs Milk Man will continue the narrative.
“It’s edited, it’s in the can. We’re sending that out and hoping someone wants to screen it,” he said.
“Also, we’ve done another feature film. This one is called Repent or Perish!
“It’s set with a Filipino conservative family against the backdrop of the same sex marriage plebiscite.”
