Her parents, both dissidents in the GDR, were redeemed by West Germany and the family moved to the BRD.
Franke studied political science in Cologne and dramaturgy at HFF Potsdam. In 2001, she published her novel “Some bet, others wait” ("die einen wetten, die anderen warten“) followed by “thinkwithyourhead” ("denkmalimkopf") in 2002 (both dtv). Together with Marc Bauder she founded their production company bauderfilm and realized some award-winning documentaries. As a scriptwriter Franke is represented by “Verlag der Autoren”.

In Los Angeles Dörte Franke and Marc Bauder will do research for their new feature on undocumented workers and the systems in place for them. Statistically every 10th person in Los Angeles is not a legal resident.
Parallels on how the issues with illegal immigration are dealt with in both, the U.S. and Germany, will manifest themselves in the film.