 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.Part of the first class to reenter the Beijing Film Academy in 1978 (along with Fifth Generation helmers Zhang Yimou, Tian Zhuangzhuang and Chen Kaige), 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.