Albert and David Maysles
Albert (born November 26, 1926, Boston, Massachusetts) and David Maysles (rhymes with "hazels", born 10 January 1932, Boston, Massachusetts) were a documentary filmmaking team whose cinéma vérité works include Salesman (1968), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Grey Gardens (1976). Their 1964 film on The Beatles forms the backbone of the DVD, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit. Several Maysles films document art projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude over a three-decade period, from 1974 when Christo's Valley Curtain was nominated for an Academy Award to 2005 when The Gates headlined New York's Tribeca Film Festival.
David Maysles, the younger brother, died of a stroke on January 3, 1987, in New York.[1] Albert Maysles graduated in 1949 with a BA from Syracuse University and later earned a masters degree at Boston University. Albert has continued to make films on his own since his brother's death. Jean-Luc Godard once called Albert Maysles "the best American cameraman".[2] In 2005 Maysles was given a lifetime achievement award at the Czech film festival AFO (Academia Film Olomouc). He is working on his own autobiographical documentary.
In 2005 he founded the Maysles Institute, a nonprofit organization that provides training and apprenticeships to underprivileged individuals. Albert is a patron of Shooting People, a filmmakers' community.
Filmography of Albert and David Maysles
- Anastasia (1962)
- Showman (1963)
- Orson Welles In Spain (1963)
- What's Happening! The Beatles In The USA (1964)
- IBM: A Self-Portrait (1964)
- Meet Marlon Brando (1965)
- Cut Piece (1965)
- Six in Paris (1965) (with Godard, as cinematographer)
- With Love from Truman (1966, with Charlotte Zwerin)
- Salesman (1968) (with Charlotte Zwerin)
- Journey to Jerusalem (1968)
- Gimme Shelter (1970, with Charlotte Zwerin)
- Christo's Valley Curtain (1974, with Ellen Hovde)
- Grey Gardens (1976, with Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer, Susan Froemke)
- The Burks of Georgia (1976, with Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer)
- Running Fence (1978, with Charlotte Zwerin)
- Muhammad and Larry (1980)
- Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic (1985, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson, Pat Jaffe)
- Ozawa (1985, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
- Islands (1986, with Charlotte Zwerin)
- Christo in Paris (1990, with Deborah Dickson and Susan Froemke)
Selected filmography by Albert Maysles
- Psychiatry in Russia (1955)
- Horowitz Plays Mozart (1987, with Susan Froemke, Charlotte Zwerin)
- Jessye Norman Sings Carmen (1989, with Susan Froemke)
- They Met in Japan (1989, with Susan Froemke)
- Soldiers of Music: Rostropovich Returns to Russia (1991, with Susan Froemke, Peter Gelb and Bob Eisenhardt)
- Abortion: Desperate Choices (1992, with Susan Froemke and Deborah Dickson)
- Baroque Duet (1992, with Susan Froemke, Peter Gelb, Pat Jaffe)
- Accent on the Offbeat (1994, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
- Letting Go: A Hospice Journey (1996, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
- Concert of Wills: Making the Getty Center (1997, with Susan Froemke, Bob Eisenhardt)
- LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton (2000, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
- The Gates (2005, with Antonio Ferrera)
- Sally Gross: The Pleasure of Stillness (2007)
- Close Up: Portraits (2008)
- Rufus Wainwright - Milwaukee At Last (2009)
- Hollywood Renegade: The Life of Budd Schulberg (2009) (Cinematographer)
- The Love We Make (2011, with Bradley Kaplan, Ian Markiewicz)
Further reading
- Joe McElhaney, Albert Maysles, University of Illinois Press, 2009.
- Dave Saunders, Direct Cinema: Observational Documentary and the Politics of the Sixties, London, Wallflower Press 2007
References
External links