Julian Benedict is best known for his documentaries about the world of jazz. After studies in classical music in Detmold and Frankfurt, he spent two years in Rome, where he played saxophone in the Italian rock band Les Fleurs du Mal. In 1992, he earned a degree in language, history, culture and civilization of France and Germany at the Sorbonne, Paris. That same year, Benedict was the star of Rudolf Thome’s film Liebe auf den ersten Blick and acted in various French films.

He first became interested in jazz through the American jazz drummer Chico Hamilton who would be the subject of his first film portrait, Chico Hamilton – Dancing to a different drummer in 1994. His film Blue Note – A Story of Modern Jazz earned him a Grammy nomination in 1997. Three years later, he filmed the documentary Jazz Seen which dealt with the jazz photographer William Claxton. Other films include the film essay Play your own thing – eine Geschichte des Jazz in Europa, Voodoo Chile – the music of Jimi Hendrix 1995 and the 1999 TV film Helmut Newton´s SUMO – the making of the most expensive book. The short film Ein Tag in Wolfsburg was produced in 2003.

Benedict also focuses his work on painting.