Julia Keller was born in Erding in 1980. In 2000 she began studying at the Chelsea College of Art & Design in London and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2003. During her studies, in 2002, she spent a semester abroad at the Emily Carr Institute of Art in Vancouver, Canada.

Back in Germany, Keller took up studying directing at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne in 2004. Her graduation thesis film "Beredtes Schweigen" ("Eloquent Silence", 2011) was named short film of the month by the Filmbewertungsstelle (German federal authority for evaluating and rating film and media) and was awarded prizes for Best Camera and Best Actress (Monika Wegener) at the New Wave Film Festival in Los Angeles. Julia Keller's first feature film "Jetzt. Nicht." premiered at the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in early 2017 and was released in German cinemas in autumn 2017.