Julia von Heinz was born in Berlin in 1976. She was trained as a media designer at the WDR TV network in Cologne, and then studied audio-visual media at the TFH Berlin, graduating as a DoP. During her studies, she completed the award-winning shorts "Dienstags" (2001), "Doris" (2002) and "Lucie und Vera" (2003).

From 2005 to 2006, Julia von Heinz worked as creative assistant of Rosa von Praunheim at the HFF Potsdam-Babelsberg. Her feature film debut "Was am Ende zählt" premiered in the section "Perspektive deutsches Kino" at the 2007 IFF Berlin. The drama about a young runaway whose life is in downward spiral won the German Film Award for Best Children Film and was lauded at several international festivals. This was followed by her documentary "Standesgemäß" (2008), which depicted the everyday worries of single noblewomen and went on to win the Bavarian Television Awards. Julia von Heinz then directed "Hanni und Nanni 2", the sequel to the box-office hit about twin teenage sisters and their adventures at a boarding school.