Jenia Kulidzhanova was born in Moscow,Russia on February 7. The family decided to move to Vienna, Austria in 1991 where Jenia lived for the next 17 years before going back to Moscow to study Filmdirecting at the famous University of Cinematography, also know as VGIK. During her time at the VGIK she won several awards for her short movies. In 2011 she graduated with an MFA in Directing.
Jenia is one of three granddaughters of Russian film director and screenwriter Lev Kulidzhanov.