Anil Fastenau was born and raised in Sialkot, Pakistan. In 2007 he left for Kyrgyzstan to study medicine. In 2010 he moved to Berlin to continue his medical education. In 2011 he directed his first documentary film “Desi Berlin” in collaboration with the Norwegian cameraman Ask Vatne Brean. One year later he moved to Cologne, where he met Jakob Gehrmann, who was studying cinematography in the International Film School Cologne. Since 2015 he has made several short films such as “Die Flucht”, “He is gone” and “Sisters”. In 2017 he started working on his debut feature film “Qazi” in collaboration with Jakob Gehrmann, who is the cinematographer, co-producer and co-writer of the film. Furthermore, he has also played the lead roles in “Die Flucht”, “He is gone” and “Qazi”. After finishing his medical school, he did a masters in Global Health at the University of Maastricht. Currently, he is working as a global health consultant at DAHW German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association.