In the weeks following the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City, Paul McCartney scrambled to put together a tribute concert at Madison Square Garden in honour of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

Albert Maysles, the godfather of American documentary cinema, was there to capture the former Beatle’s every move — much as he and his late brother, David, had done back nearly 40 years prior, with the TV special What’s Happening: The Beatles in the U.S.A.

“In a way it started back in 1964 when the Beatles arrived in New York for the first time and we made a film of that trip of theirs,” said Maysles in a recent interview.

“Paul was a very good friend at the time when 9/11 took place, and he called us up one day and said, ‘Remember the film we made before? Let's do another one.’”

Maysles, along with his brother, directed such landmark documentaries as Salesman (1968); Gimme Shelter (1969), about the Rolling Stones’ ill-fated appearance at Altamont; and Grey Gardens (1976), about charming shut-ins Edie and “Little Edie” Beale.

Albert Maysles will appear at the Toronto International Film Festival to discuss the new McCartney film, The Love We Make, which premieres on Sept. 9.

The 9/11 concert, which was hastily organized by McCartney and staged on Oct. 20, 2001, included performances from David Bowie, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton and James Taylor, not to mention a thundering performance by The Who.

Up until a year ago, the documentary, co-directed with Bradley Kaplan, seemed destined to languish in the vaults at Maysles Films.

“We went back to the footage in the vault over a year ago, and there wasn't a finished film,” Kaplan said. “There was great footage, but no film. Paul wrote this beautiful note to Albert asking if he'd had a chance to look at it.

“I saw that note and my heart raced, because I had seen the footage and thought it would be the heretofore-unseen great Maysles film, so it was a true honour for me as Albert's co-filmmaker to shepherd this process creatively with our team and, with Paul's blessing, to make an authentic Maysles film.”

The decision was made to release the film to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a decision Maysles says gives audiences a chance to put the event into better perspective.

“The whole association with 9/11 is something that's difficult to attach oneself to completely,” he said. “When we made Gimme Shelter, it took six months after we finished the film for the Stones to give their approval.

“These things are difficult to deal with. With time, and then with this anniversary coming up, we knew we had footage of this wonderful concert, and we thought, ‘Oh wow, let's make the film.’”

Kaplan said although the anniversary was not mentioned in McCartney’s original note to Maysles, the timing gave the filmmakers something to work towards.

“It ended up working to our advantage,” he said. “We now had the ability to tell the story in a way that had a certain kind of effect of memorializing and paying homage to a certain time, and to those who lost their lives in such a violent way.”

Concert films with a subtext

In 1969, when Maysles and his brother were brought on to document the Rolling Stones’ American tour, they had no idea that the final concert at Altamont Speedway near San Francisco would play out so tragically, with one fan being killed by a Hells Angels biker — this after the Stones had hired the controversial gang to provide security. The event has been cited as the so-called end of the lofty ideals of the 1960s, a subtext the Maysles brothers weave into the film in the same way the tragedy of 9/11 pervades The Love We Make.

Paul McCartney reflects on the 9/11 concert he helped organize in Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan's documentary The Love We Make, which premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF

“Both films are about music and about performance but they're really not about that at some level,” Kaplan said. “They're about human beings getting through difficult times, one very specific to the events of Altamont and the other, obviously broader events of 9/11.”

Maysles says patience played a key role in the making of both films, allowing for true reality to unfold.

“Reality is what you're after, that kind of truth and you've got to let it happen and you need to wait so you can catch it in a very direct fashion,” he said. “I think that's one of the strong points of [The Love We Make]. If you're at all human, the humanizing that goes on in this project is something that gets to you and you are very strongly moved by the music and the performance and, of course, Paul himself.

“In a very metaphorical fashion, I would say that the events of 9/11 were like war. The events of the film, the concert and so forth, are more like peace. In a way, peace wins out — you’re with the winners and not the losers.”

Meeting the Beatles

Another important aspect of this film is the strong friendship between McCartney and Maysles, which can be traced back to the making of What’s Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A. in 1964.

“We got a call one day from Granada Television in England saying the Beatles are arriving in two hours, would we like to make a film,” he said. “So I put my hand over the phone, turned to my brother and said, 'Who are the Beatles? Are they any good?' And he luckily knew, and with a big smile on his face, he said they were great. We both got on the phone, made the deal and rushed out to the airport.”

Maysles says his lack of knowledge about the band actually enabled him to make a better film. “It was all the more interesting for me to take part in making the film because it would all be discovery.

“In that process of discovering, we were able to put all the more energy into filming at the same time so that there's a sense of discovery for the people that see the film.”

The Maysles were struck by how genuine the Fab Four were, and how easy they were to work with. Nearly 40 years later, Maysles says McCartney is still that same person.

“There was never any moment [during the making of The Love We Make] where we had to tell him what to do or what not to do. He performs to audiences that size and maybe walks away with $5 or $6 million. In this case, he gave it all to charity, which isn't really mentioned in the film. It doesn't stress the fact that Paul is a great charity guy.”

Kaplan does not share as long a history with McCartney, but has similar sentiments about his character.

“I didn't meet Paul in 1964, but I've gotten to know him very well in the past year,” he said. “For all of his incredible talent, fame and fortune, he's a guy you can sit and talk with and connect with in an incredibly real way.”

Labour of love

Maysles says the process of filming and producing The Love We Make, despite its tragic subtext, was altogether a positive experience.

“There are just times when something works beautifully as a scene and it seems at every moment, the camera is doing the right thing,” he said. “I remember when we were making Grey Gardens, when we had a really good day, the two women knew it just as much as we did — that this is good stuff for the film.

“They would call it a banner day. Well, we had a lot of banner days with Paul and all the others in the film.”

Kaplan says McCartney’s initial impression of the film is a memory he will always treasure.

“When we showed the first really strong cut of the film to Paul and the lights came up after the screening, I could see that he had been visibly moved,” he said.

“For him to have been so generous during filming and to be that excited about the finished project capped off an already amazing experience.”

For Maysles, that sense of generosity is something he hopes comes across to audiences when they see the film.

“Just as the whole concept of the concert was a supreme act of generosity on the part of all the performers, the film is a piece of generosity, understanding and love, all of which we don't generally get enough of in the media — it's all war, not peace.

“What makes me happiest, though, is this film is truly an independent film — we didn't have to change it for anybody. It's going on television and always will be shown just the way we wanted it.”

The Love We Make screens at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9.