“I make films because I don’t like the way women are represented in film; I am bored of seeing the world through the eyes of men,” says director Rei Nadal, who stumbled into directing films by accident, through a digital-era discovery. “It sort of happened without me pursuing it. Nick Knight found me on the Internet six years ago. I used to take stills of videos I would make of myself with my webcam and post them online.” The two have since collaborated on three fashion films, including a joint project for the British Fashion Council.

“[I’m most excited] by stories and identity,” she explains. In an exclusive film crafted for V, Nadal explores the male gaze with a predominantly female team featuring stylist Ellie Grace Cumming and actress Esme Creed-Miles. “The male gaze plays a role in this film as The Stalker; that insistent need to look at a woman and how it turns against them,” while the character arc ranges “from inspiring the traditional on- screen desire to provoking disgust,” Nadal says. “Fashion is such a new genre in filmmaking—there is so much to discover.”