Since leaving the classrooms of Tisch School of the Arts Asia, Uta Arning ’10 (MFA, Kanbar, Film) has been busy writing, producing and directing her feature film Snowchild.

The film is inspired by a true event of a young Japanese man’s suicide attempt. Although the man survived with serious injuries, according to Arning, the most disturbing scene and the inspiration for this story, was the oblivious reaction from bystanders.

Arning carefully researched the story, and eventually Snowchild became the Arning’s thesis film , a full feature. Watch the Snowchild Trailer

Following endless pitches, uncountable and disappointing discussions with film commissions on funding, Arning managed to get investments from Germany for the film. Arning and her partners formed a production company in Germany, and with the help of her classmates Amalia Yunus ’10 (MFA, Kanbar, Film), Matthew Bowyer ’10 (MFA, Kanbar, Film), Gerald Crump ’10 (MFA, Kanbar, Film), Gavin Ramoutar ’10 (MFA, Kanbar, Film) and Ashish Ghadiali ’10 (MFA, Kanbar, Film), the film was shot in Japan from mid November to December, 2010. The Director of Photography is Matthew Mendelson (MFA, Kanbar, Film) her counterpart from the New York Campus’ MFA Program.  

Arning has returned to Singapore and is in post-production for Snowchild which is due for release in May 2011.

As a student at Tisch School of the Arts Asia, Arning’s work was screened in Japan, India, Ireland, and the United States. Her second year project, The Perfect Woman, supported by the German Embassy Singapore, was nominated in 2009 for “Best Script” at the Grand Off European Film Festival in Warsaw, Poland. It won awards at NYU's First Run Film Festival New York 2010 in Editing, Art Direction and Sound Design and was a Wasserman Award Finalist. In Mexico, The Perfect Worman received the Silver Palm Award and celebrated its Singapore premiere at Singapore’s Foreign Director's Talent Showcase. The film was screened last in October at the International SF Film Festival in Tel-Aviv.