The Man Behind The Camera: Albert Moya

Barcelona native filmmaker and director Albert Moya found himself working with fashion companies almost by chance.

After graduating from the New York Film Academy in 2013, his final project, called “American Autumn,” landed on Nowness, the digital video platform, which started to commission him to dfo architecture and design-related movies, before none other than Dries Van Noten came knocking at the door.

As the first fashion film he ever directed, “Baton” for Van Noten is a film noir-inspired movie filled with low-key, black-and-white frames set against an opulent Paris theater, which spurs a sense of angst and melancholy.

“I am driven by emotions over anything else, I like to make the audience feel something, whatever emotion it is and that’s the one thing I’m more strongly committed to,”

Moya said in a phone interview from Paris, where he’s based.

To ignite strong feelings, the director said he often takes a provocative approach, juxtaposing out-of-context elements, unexpected locations, off-kilter lighting and heart-beating plot twists. “I like to work on elements that have their own sense of provocation so when you put all the different elements together there is always some sort of a dialogue…things that you’ve seen or known before become something completely new,” he offered.

After that first Dries Van Noten short movie, the fashion industry took note and he’s trained his camera for several marquee names including Bulgari, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Jacquemus and Rimowa. He is to debut his latest fashion-related project during Milan Fashion Week, as Italian streetwear brand GCDS has tapped him for its film unveiling the fall 2021 collection.

With 10 different ambiences informed by the main colors in the lineup and a surreal take on the narrative, which is also a key element in GCDS’ design lexicon, the fashion show is to have a sweet and sour flavor to it. Without giving too many details, Moya noted that the creative project was a joint effort with the brand’s co-founder and creative director Giuliano Calza. It was filmed over three days in a London studio involving a crew of 100 people and 40 talents.

Despite his distinctive aesthetic, rooted in experimental cinema, Moya confessed inspirations come from anything he experiences in his daily life. “I just like to be aware through my everyday life, catching anything I see on the subway, in my family, in the movies that I watch, in the plays that I see, in the music I listen to, in my friends. Everything can become a reference for a project or an idea that you develop in a film. It’s really about being awake and aware,” he mused.

Now busy prepping his debut feature film, a project that he will start shooting in early 2022, Moya confessed he’s seen two types of fashion films taking the lead, some more editorial and product-centric, others similar to music videos and with a narrative attached to them.

Tending to favor the latter, he sees them stealing the spotlight.

“I think people need stories to watch videos nowadays. There are so many video contents that when you offer something different, then that is when it becomes more attractive,” he noted.

This is an excerpt of an article written by Womens Wear Daily. Click here to see the full article.