Ning Ying (b. Beijing, 1959) is an independent woman filmmaker and screenwriter who has become a leading representative of contemporary Chinese neorealist (新现实主义) cinema. Ning Ying entered the Beijing Film Academy in 1978 and is a graduate of the Fifth Generation class of 1982. From 1982 to 1986 she studied film in Italy and served as assistant director of Bernardo Bertolucci’s _The Last Emperor_. After initially assisting other directors, she made her directorial debut in 1990 with a comedy feature called _Somebody Loves Just Me_ (有人偏偏爱上我). Ning Ying is best known for her Beijing trilogy: _For Fun_ (找乐) (1992), _On the Beat_ (民警故事) (1995), and _I Love Beijing_ (夏日暖洋洋) (2000). _For Fun_ is about retirees trying to set up a Peking opera group; _On the Beat_ is a police movie in which policeman Yang (杨) is ordered to exterminate all the neighbourhood dogs, and discovers that the social system is the enemy; _I Love Beijing_ follows the life and loves of a young taxi driver. Her semi-documentary storytelling, use of mostly amateur actors, and appropriate technique paints a realistic picture of the contemporary Beijing of ordinary people. Her combination of social criticism and wit has become a hallmark of Ning Ying’s art as a filmmaker, screenwriter and editor, and makes her a unique ‘Fifth Generation’ director.