Franziska Schönenberger, born in 1982, completed a degree in Media Studies before she started working as a freelance journalist for various German TV broadcasters. Her work also took her to Mumbai, India, where she gained practical film experience as an assistant to renowned documentary filmmaker Nishtha Jain. In India, she also met her future husband and co-director Jayakrishnan Subramanian.

After returning to Germany in 2009, she studied at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (Munich University of Television and Film, HFF), focusing on documentary film and television journalism.

While still a student, she realized her first feature-length documentary "Amma & Appa" (2014, co-directed by Subramanian). The film shows Schönenberger and Subramanian planning their wedding with both their parents and tells of the cultural differences that had to be overcome. "Amma & Appa" premiered at the Berlinale 2014 and was released in German cinemas in the autumn of 2014. Schönenberger also realized her HFF graduation film together with Subramanian, "Die Schatten der Wüste" ("Shadows of the Desert"), a documentary that focuses on the mysterious death of an Indian temporary worker in Dubai. The film premiered at the DOK.fest Munich in 2018 and had ist theatrical release in January 2019.