Anna Hoffmann was born in Hamburg, where she studied German literature and ethnology and finished a master's degree in archival sciences in Potsdam. She gained her first curatorial experience at the Hamburg municipal cinema Metropolis. From 1987 to 1990, she was a member of the selection committee of the European Low Budget Film Forum, a predecessor of the Hamburg Film Festival. After working as a freelance editor, critic, translator, subtitler and film production assistant, she headed the European Documentary Film Institute in Mülheim an der Ruhr from 1993 to 1996, where she co-founded the film magazine DOX. Since 2001, she has worked at the Berlinale Forum as program manager and member of the selection committee.