Ning Ying (born 1959 in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

) is a female

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

often considered a member of China's " Sixth Generation" filmmaker coterie, a group that also includes

Jia Zhangke Jia Zhangke ( zh, c=贾樟柯, p=Jiǎ Zhāngkē, born 24 May 1970) .He is a Chinese-language film and television director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and writer. He is the dean of the Shanxi Film Academy of Shanxi Media College and the dea ...

, Zhang Yuan and

Wang Xiaoshuai Wang Xiaoshuai (; born May 22, 1966) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the "Sixth Generation" of the Cinema of China. Like others in this gener ...

. However, this is more a result of a shared subject matter than anything else, as chronologically, Ning is closer to the earlier Fifth Generation. Her sister, the screenwriter Ning Dai, is a frequent collaborator and the wife of fellow director Zhang Yuan. In 1997, she was a member of the jury at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival.

Directorial career

Part of the first class to reenter the

Beijing Film Academy Beijing Film Academy (BFA; ) is a coeducational state-run higher education institution in Beijing, China. The film school is the largest institution specializing in the tertiary education for film and television production in Asia. The academy h ...

in 1978 (along with Fifth Generation helmers

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

Tian Zhuangzhuang Tian Zhuangzhuang (; born April 1952 in Beijing) is a Chinese film director, producer and actor. Tian was born to an influential actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his artistic career first as an am ...

and

Chen Kaige Chen Kaige (; born 12 August 1952) is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema.Berry, Michael (2002). "Chen Kaige: Historical Revolution and Cinematic Rebellion" in Speaking in Images: Interviews wit ...

), Ning Ying's career veered away from the path of her male counterparts when she was allowed to study abroad in Italy's

Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia (Experimental Film Centre or Italian National film school) was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film. The centre is the oldest film school in ...

. While in Italy, she met Italian director

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

, whom she would act as an assistant director for in the 1987 epic ''

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' ( it, L'ultimo imperatore) is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the final Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted ...

''. Her own career first reached international prominence with 1993's ''

For Fun ''Looking for Fun'', released as ''For Fun'' in the U.S., is a 1992 Chinese comedy film directed by Ning Ying, written by Ning Ying and her sister Ning Dai, and based on a novella by Zheng Jiangong (which was translated into English by Jeanne Tai i ...

'' (also known as ''Looking for Fun''), which would become the first of Ning Ying's "Beijing Trilogy," a loosely tied grouping of films that all take place in

— the other two films being the black comedy, '' On the Beat'' and the drama, '' I Love Beijing''. Together, the films are an analysis of the massive changes that China's national capital has undergone in the recent decades. In 2003, the trilogy was shown in its entirety by the

Harvard Film Archive The Harvard Film Archive (HFA) is a film archive and cinema located in the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dedicated to the collection, preservation and exhibition of film, the HFA houses a c ...

in an event touted as "From China with Love: The Films of Ning Ying." Ning followed her Beijing trilogy with a full-length documentary, ''

Railroad of Hope ''Railroad of Hope'' is a 2002 Chinese documentary film directed by Ning Ying. The film was produced by Eurasia Communications and Beijing Happy Village. Background ''Railroad of Hope'' consists of interviews and footage collected over three d ...

'' in 2002, which followed the mass migration of cheap labor throughout China. The film managed to win the Grand Prix du Cinema du Reel in 2002. In 2005, she made ''

Perpetual Motion Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, a ...

'', which premiered in several major film festivals, notably

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Ning Ying
at the Chinese Movie Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Ning, Ying 1959 births Living people Beijing Film Academy alumni Chinese documentary filmmakers Film directors from Beijing Chinese film producers Chinese women film directors Screenwriters from Beijing Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni Asian film producers Women documentary filmmakers