Martin Gerner was born in Den Helder/Netherlands and is a filmmaker and journalist. He grew up in Germany and France. During the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001, he reported from Asia for the German public broadcaster ARD. After a sabbatical, dedicated to Film and Theater Studies, he went back to Afghanistan in early 2004. Since then he has served as a freelance reporter and correspondent for national German newspapers (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel, TAZ, Frankfurter Rundschau), ARD and for Deutsche Welle (German, English and Afghan services).

He is also a curator for filmfestivals and special events dedicated to Afghanistan and Afghan filmmaking. In 2005 he established the first version of the Cologne Afghanistan Film Festival, followed by "Afghanistan from Inside", a special program at the Leipzig Documentary Film Festival 2008. He is also a teacher and lecturer to a new generation of Afghan journalists in Afghanistan, where he has been teaching for different international media NGOs.

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH