Michael Noer was born in Denmark in 1978. He attended the Danish Film School, where he specialized in documentary filmmaking. He graduated in 2003 with En rem af huden which was a portrait of Ole Ege, a pioneer in Danish pornography. In 2007 he made Vesterbro which screened at numerous international festivals including CPH:DOX where it won a Special Mention. Internet project Doxwise Diary stirred international media attention when it was released on MySpaceTV. The Wild Hearts (2008) was selected for Dox Award competition CPH:DOX. His fiction film debut was R (2010) co-directed with Tobias Lindholm.
His films showed Noer to be an empathic and patient filmmaker with a distinct talent for combining unfeigned interest and loyalty regarding his characters with a highly developed sense of intimacy and nuances in individual scenes.