Martone is a director and screenwriter who began his career in mid 1980’s. At first he directed short and TV films. His first important feature film was the drama Morte di un matematico napoletano (1992) for which he won the award David di Donatello as best new director in 1993. During his career he continued to direct documentaries and short features. Some of his feature films are the thriller L'amore molesto (1995), which won the Italian Golden Globe as best film of the year and the award David for the best director in 1995, dramas Rehearsals for War (Teatro di guerra, 1998) and The Scent of Blood (L'odore del sangue, 2004), historical drama We Believed (Noi credevamo, 2010) and the biopic Leopardi (Il giovane favoloso, 2014).