Alain Fleischer was born in Paris in 1944 to a Hungarian father and a Franco-Spanish mother. He grew up in a multilingual and multi-accented world.

In Paris he attended the Parc des Princes primary school, and then the Lycée Claude Bernard, before studying at the Sorbonne and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.

Baccalaureate (experimental sciences and philosophy), with special mention. BA and MA in literature and (MA thesis on Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos); BA and MA. in theatrical studies (dissertation on Odet de Turnèbe); BA and MA in Spanish (MA thesis comparing the nominal forms of verbs in French and Spanish); BA and MA in linguistics (MA thesis on semantic anomalies in La cantatrice chauve by Eugène Ionesco), BA, MA and DEA in animal biology (MA thesis on the scientific protocols in ethological cinema). Doctorate in semiology (thesis on the semiological analysis of the rules of ball games).

Alain Fleischer taught at the Université Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle (DERCAV, Department of Film and Audiovisual studies) from 1979 to 1985. He gave courses at the Université Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) in 1992 and 1993, and continued on a regular basis until 2013, while leading doctoral seminars and lecturing.

In 1975 he was appointed as a professor with tenure at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Art de Nice (Villa Arson), and, in 1979 as professor at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Art de Paris-Cergy, in both cases by official competition.

He was visiting professor at the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie d'Arles in 1982-83. Head of tuition for the first term at Idhec (Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques), the future Fémis (Fondation Européenne des Métiers de l'Image et du Son). Member of several selection juries for art school teachers and for entrance exams to Idhec/Fémis, he has chaired several juries for the DNSEP (Diplôme National Supérieur d'Études Plastiques).

Holder of grants awarded by the Groupe de Recherche et d'Essais Cinématographiques (GREC-CNC) in 1969 and 1982.
Winner of the Villa Medici hors-les-murs (1983) and Léonard de Vinci (1984) grants.
Prize-winner at the French Academy in Rome and resident at the Villa Medici from 1985 to 1987.
Chosen by the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, from 1987 to 1989.
Doctor Honoris Causa of the Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada); Doctor Honoris Causa of the European Humanities University in Vilnius (Lithuania).

Alain Fleischer was tasked by the French Ministry of Culture with conceiving and steering the project for Le Fresnoy-Studio National des Arts Contemporains, which he has directed since its opening in 1997.

He is currently overseeing its transformation into StudioLab International, where the visual arts will be studied in conjunction with sciences.

Alain Fleischer is a writer, filmmaker, visual artist and photographer.