Julia von Heinz

Julia von Heinz is a German film director and screenwriter whose work bridges commercial success and socially engaged cinema. Born on 3 June 1976 in West Berlin, she grew up amid the cultural ferment of a reunified Germany, experiences that later informed her politically charged narratives. After completing studies and working as a personal assistant to Rosa von Praunheim at the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg in 2005‑2006, she earned her Ph.D. in 2012 with a focus on film theory, a scholarly background that underpins her nuanced storytelling. Her debut feature, Nothing Else Matters (2007), premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and garnered a Special Jury Award at Torino, establishing her as a voice for coming‑of‑age drama. She followed with the documentary Standesgemäß (2008), examining the lives of single aristocratic women, and earned a Bavarian TV Award for Best Documentary the next year. In 2012 she directed the children’s blockbuster Hanni & Nanni 2 and co‑produced the collaborative documentary Pink Children, honoring Rosa von Praunheim alongside fellow directors Tom Tykwer and others. The political thriller And Tomorrow the Entire World (2020) marked her greatest international breakthrough, competing for the Golden Lion in Venice and winning multiple awards, including a Gold Hugo for Best Ensemble. Continuing her partnership with prestigious festivals, she contributed to the anthology Isolation (2021) and directed the mini‑series Eldorado KaDeWe, earning a Bavarian TV Award for Best Directing. Her most recent project, Treasure (2024), starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry, completes the Aftermath Trilogy that explores the lingering impact of the Holocaust, and it premiered again at Berlin before she served on the Venice competition jury. Beyond filmmaking, von Heinz heads the directing department at the University of Television and Film Munich, shaping the next generation of German auteurs while balancing a family life with her husband, screenwriter John Quester, and their three children.