5 Questions with Matthew Victor Pastor
Matthew Victor Pastor is a Filipino Australian filmmaker with a diverse body of work. A recipient of Screen Australia, Film Victoria and AFTRS funding for Fun Times, the short film premiered at the 37th St Kilda Film Festival.
The first part of his thematic 2020 trilogy of feature films The Neon Across the Ocean recently had its world premiere at the 44th São Paulo International Film Festival in October 2020.
Still from The Neon Across The Ocean (Matthew Victor Pastor, 2020)
No.1
So The Neon Across The Ocean is part of a trilogy (ed’s note: the consecutive two films, A Pencil to the Jugular and Suburb/City, are in post-production and pre-production respectively). How did the idea for the whole thing come about, or did it only become clearer after making Neon?
Fun Times, which was a short film I’d made prior to the trilogy, had many moving bits. So I wanted to approach my next films more freely—a creative impulse of writing while shooting, shooting while editing, and re-writing in the post-production. This organic process led the films to adapt and change.
At the start of the year, we had both Neon Ocean and what would become Pencil to the Jugular in production, but the concepts were still pretty flexible. Thus, when COVID-19 struck, I was able to adapt my storylines to the changing world. We had to film more to make it work, but it came naturally; the tragic world led to a build-up of emotion which needed a release.
While confined at home, I was able to find the cinematic language of Neon Ocean, its quiet melancholy calm. Then in witnessing the prejudice that became more apparent through the pandemic, I was able to process this grief through A Pencil to Jugular. I used a unique approach, one I’m getting better at, to be nimble and allow the unfolding world and the film’s story to both dictate [my actions] and move me.
No.2
You made the film while Melbourne was in the throes of a global pandemic, under what has been called “one of the longest lockdowns in the world”. Can you tell us a bit about the challenges you encountered? Any pleasant surprises that arose out of the difficulties involved?
With the distance between some of the crew members, as well as travel bans making production more difficult, it could have been a disaster. We were supposed to fly to Manila in March/April and shoot more, but unfortunately our flights were cancelled. I managed to finish the film with the footage we had from the previous trip, but our budget was lost (in fact, we still are yet to be refunded for the lost trip).
Another example of a limitation-turned-strength was the voiceover from Sydney actor Lilibeth Munar, who narrates the film. Instead of stopping this work, we did it over the phone, and I re-recorded them through a tape recorder to give the film a more vintage feel. In the end, the limitations helped Neon Ocean feel more raw, honest, and real. The distance and aesthetics became one.
Yet another feat was that all the post-production was done on consumer equipment in my apartment, which meant that I was able to social distance and isolate, keeping everyone involved with the film safe and healthy. I'm very proud of this. Not just on Neon, but I also devised a technique for parts of Jugular where I directed remotely. I gave my camera gear and radio microphones over to an actor, taught them how to use the gear via FaceTime, and then had them do their own filming/audio to the script. It comes across as very lonely in the film. There are ways to find cinematic language despite our unfortunate circumstances if we are open to giving it a shot.
No.3
The Neon Across The Ocean seems timely, especially as it is set in a post-COVID era. What do you hope to express through the film, and consequently, through the trilogy?
My background as a Filipino-Australian informs my whole body of work. And the genesis of this film was always to explore distance and space (not just the designated 1.5 meters). I knew that visiting the motherland might be something I won’t be able to do for a while.
The basis of Neon Ocean is that it was created from two souls, separated by the ocean. This film lingers—it takes its time as it gives a chance for the audience to build empathy. Making art in this time also helped me reflect and begin a journey to healing. I hope the trilogy expresses a shared collective pain and captures the future, present, and past, demonstrating a changing landscape from what was before. I hope it can give people something to relate to and build empathy.
No.4
You’ve also made another trilogy (I Am Jupiter, I Am The Biggest Planet; Melodrama/Random/Melbourne!; and Maganda: Pinoy Boy vs. Milk Man) which explores some aspect of Filipino-Australian identity, and which has gone on to win awards around the world. Tell us a bit more about them, and how do you think this current trilogy is connected to that?
My Filipino-Australian identity is a link; however, those previous narratives come from a totally different energy. Those films were chaotic, busy, and angry. I was writing those films while trying to understand and work out my place in the world. To put it in context, I actually only started becoming more aware of the weight of what I was exploring at film school [VCA] in 2015. So these three films are an aspect of that journey. And now, I’m further in my journey and am working on healing.
No.5
Who do you consider your directorial or filmic influences?
My earliest influence—the one who saved my life and started my journey towards filmmaking (and away from another life)—was All about Lily Chou-Chou (2001, Shunji Iwai). I saw that on SBS at 13 years old, didn’t know what it was but kept thinking about it. I stumbled upon the film again later in life. In recent years, the films of Lav Diaz [inspire me].
The Neon Across The Ocean is Matthew Victor Pastor’s most recent feature film made with a cast of friends, and which features Melbourne’s city streets as a backdrop. A tale of cross-cultural dislocation and longing set in a fictional not-too-distant future after the pandemic crisis, the film will screen in the International Perspective program at Mostra in São Paolo, one of Latin America’s most important film festivals.
Watch the trailer for The Neon Across The Ocean here.