Axel Braun is the son of the porn pioneer Lasse Barun, who helped legalise porn in Europe through his work in the early 60s. Axel was born and raised in Italy, where he received a privileged upbringing studying the Classics and learning five languages. He also enjoyed the Arts and dreamt of becoming a cartoonist as a child. At the age of seven, he was moved by the movie The Four Feathers by Zoltan Koeda, an epic story of love, betrayal, honour and revenge. At that moment, he knew he had to be a film director when he grew up.