Like his contemporary Stanley Kubrick, William Klein was born in New York in 1928, gained early acclaim as a still photographer, and created his major film work while in self-exile in Europe. An American in Paris studying painting on the G.I. bill, Klein turned to photography as a tool for his visual art. His first major work, Life is Good and Good for You in New York (1956), captured the photographer’s vivid street-level encounters with his hometown and revolutionized the design of photographic books. His entrance to film soon followed, and while often linked with the "Left Bank" group of the French New Wave (which included Chris Marker, Agnes Varda, and Alain Resnais), Klein maintained an independent vision and a penchant for wicked satire and raw, direct filmmaking.

Over the years, he has distinguished himself in many arenas: his influential fashion photography; his celebrated books on Moscow, Tokyo, and Rome; and even a successful string of television commercials. His filmmaking has continued unabated with the release of his new feature, The Messiah, his twenty-third film in a remarkable career now spanning more than four decades. Rage on, Bill Klein.