Matthew Victor Pastor

The Fil-Aus trilogy are three films exploring Filipino Australians identity.[7] 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."[8]

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.[9] 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.[10]

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."[11]

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

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."[13]

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."[14]

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]

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] 2020 embarks production of the thematic 2020 trilogy capturing the Future, Present & Past of the global pandemic.[23]

• Matthew Victor Pastor at IMDb