Achim von Borries, born in 1968 in Munich, studied history, political science and philosophy at the Free University of Berlin from 1989 to 1993. In 1992 he continued his studies at the German Film and Television Academy (dffb). Borries received high praise for his impressive screenwriting debut ENGLAND! (2000), which was also his graduation film at the dffb. ENGLAND! was successful at several festivals and received 15 international awards, including two from the German Film Critics Association in 2002 (Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography for Jutta Pohlmann). It was followed by his second feature film as director, "Love in Thoughts", starring August Diehl, Daniel Brühl and Anna Maria Mühe, which premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the USA in 2004.

Together with his sister Bettine he wrote the screenplays for adaptations of the classic children's books "The Three Robbers", "Mullewapp" and "Lily the Witch". Achim von Borries directed episodes of well-known German television series such as "Unter Verdacht" with Senta Berger. In 2010, for the 40th anniversary of the crime series "Tatort", he directed the anniversary episode "Wie einst Lilly", which also marked Ulrich Tukur's debut as a police inspector in "Tatort".