Ute Aurand was born in 1957 in Frankfurt/Main, and grew up in Berlin. She is a teacher and curator, and a devoted 16mm filmmaker since 1980.

She studied filmmaking at the Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb) during the years 1979-1985. Since 1985 she began to produce her own films. In 1987 she founded "Ute Aurand Filmproduktion".