Albert Maysles is recognized as a pioneer of "direct cinema," the distinctly American version of French cinema verité. He earned this distinguished reputation by being the first to make non-fiction feature films --films in which the drama of human life unfolds as it is, without scripts, sets or narration.

Born in Boston of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Albert received his B.A. at Syracuse and his M.A. at Boston University where he taught psychology for three years. He made the transition from psychology to film in the summer of 1955 by taking a 16mm camera to Russia to film patients at several mental hospitals. The result, "Psychiatry in Russia," was Albert's first foray into filmmaking. Several years later, he and his brother David made a motorcycle journey from Munich to Moscow and along the way shot their first collaborative film on the Polish student revolution.

In 1960, Albert was co-filmmaker of "Primary," a film about the Democratic primary election campaigns of Kennedy and Humphrey. The use of hand-held cameras and synchronous sound allowed the story to tell itself. With a fine-tuned sense of the scene-behind-the-scene, Albert made "Meet Marlon Brando" (1965) and "With Love From Truman" (1966). Then they came out with the landmark non-fiction feature film "Salesman" (1968), a portrait of four door-to-door Bible salesmen from Boston. It won an award from the National Society of Film Critics and is regarded as the classic American documentary. In 1992, the Library of Congress saluted the film for its historical, cultural and aesthetic significance. Albert was made a Guggenheim Fellow in 1965.

His next two films became cult classics. "Gimme Shelter" (1970) is the dazzling portrait of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones on their American tour, which culminated in a killing at the notorious concert at Altamont. "Grey Gardens" (1975) captures on film the haunting relationship of the Beales, a mother and daughter living secluded in a decaying East Hampton mansion. These films, like "Salesman," were released theatrically to great acclaim.

Albert was honored to shoot for friend Martin Scorsese on his new Rolling Stones documentary, "Shine A Light" (2008). Maysles recently produced two episodes of Ovation TV's ongoing series "Close Up" and a documentary portrait of New York-based dancer/choreographer Sally Gross, "The Pleasure of Stillness" (2007).

Among other new and exciting projects, Albert is currently at work on his autobiographical documentary film, "Handheld."

A dedicated teacher and mentor, Albert enjoys lecturing at master classes and workshops around the world. He has visited and taught at the famous Danish Film School, UCLA, NYU, MOMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at film festivals in Chicago and Belfast, to name but a few.