Matthew Salleh is an Australian filmmaker based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, known for making documentary films with his personal and professional partner, Rose Tucker. They are the founders and owners of Urtext Films. They are known for their documentary feature films, including ''We Don't Deserve Dogs'' (2020) and ''Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts'' (2024).

Early life and education

Matthew Salleh is from

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, as is Rose Tucker. Tucker is a science graduate of

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

(2006), who also did a diploma in tourism there. Salleh did an arts degree at university, and neither has had professional training in making films. They met around 2007, and became professional and personal partners.

Career

Salleh and Tucker started their careers in filmmaking making short films. They established the Urtext film company in Adelaide. They were based in Australia until relocating to Brooklyn, New York in 2016. Salleh acts as director,

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, and

co-editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...

of their films, while Tucker is producer and co-editor. The short film ''Central Texas Barbecue'' (2014) is a short documentary about Texans who cook meat in pits. Their first feature documentary ''Barbecue'' (2017) highlights the culture of

barbecuing Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

meat and other foods in various societies. The filmmakers travelled to 13 countries, with the resulting film including a restaurant in a Syrian refugee camp, nomads in Mongolia,

Hāngī Hāngī () is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven, called an ''umu''. It is still used for large groups on special occasions, as it allows large quantities of food to be cooked witho ...

in New Zealand,

braai Barbecue varies by the type of meat, sauce, Spice rub, rub, or other flavorings used, the point in barbecuing at which they are added, the role smoke plays, the equipment and fuel used, cooking temperature, and cooking time. The meat may be wh ...

in South Africa,

yakitori is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. Its preparation involves attaching the meat to a skewer, typically made of steel, bamboo, or similar materials, after which it is grilled over a charcoal fire. During or after cooking, the meat is ty ...

in Japan, and many others. It received a

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

. Their 2020 documentary ''We Don't Deserve Dogs'', that explores the relationship between men and dogs, was scheduled have its world premiere at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival in the US in March 2020, but owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the event was cancelled. ''We Don't Deserve Dogs'' was released later in 2020 at a number of film festivals, including

Warsaw Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival (; WFF), also known as Warsaw International Film Festival, is an annual international film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland. The 40th edition of the festival will take place from 11 to 20 October 2024. Histor ...

Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...

, Gems Film Festival (Miami), and

Brisbane International Film Festival The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is an annual film festival held in Brisbane, Australia. Organised by the Screen Culture unit at Screen Queensland, the festival has taken place since 1992, with the program including features, doc ...

. Salleh wrote about how he made the film. Their documentary feature, ''Slice of Life: The American Dream, In Former Pizza Huts'', premiered at

SXSW Sydney South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

and

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

. It was released in Australian cinemas on 7 November 2024.

Filmography

*''Balloons for Sale'' (short film, 2009) *''Pablo's Villa'' (short film, 2013) *''Central Texas Barbecue'' (short film, 2014) *''Barbecue'' (2017) *''We Don't Deserve Dogs'' (2020) *''Slice of Life: The American Dream, In Former Pizza Huts'' (2024)

Footnotes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salleh, Matthew Australian documentary filmmakers Living people Mass media people from Adelaide Australian film directors Year of birth missing (living people)