Hu Bo
Hu Bo (20 July 1988 – 12 October 2017), also known by his pen name Hu Qian, was a Chinese novelist and film director, best known for his only feature film An Elephant Sitting Still (2018), which garnered widespread praise from critics. He died by suicide on 12 October 2017 at the age of 29, soon after he finished that film.
Also recorded as Hu Qian
Hu Bo

Steppinman · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Hu Bo
- Born
- 20 July 1988
- Birthplace
- Jinan, Shandong, China
- Died
- 12 October 2017
- Place of death
- Beijing, China
- Education
- Beijing Film Academy
- Occupation
- * Author
- Nationality
- People's Republic of China
- Known for
- An Elephant Sitting Still
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Hu Bo (20 July 1988 – 12 October 2017), also known by his pen name Hu Qian, was a Chinese novelist and film director, best known for his only feature film An Elephant Sitting Still (2018), which garnered widespread praise from critics. He died by suicide on 12 October 2017 at the age of 29, soon after he finished that film.
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Note VALÉORINE
Hu Bo (1988–2017) was a Chinese director, film director and novelist, among other activities. Born in Jinan, the director died in Beijing. Hu Bo studied at Beijing Film Academy. Works include An Elephant Sitting Still.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Hu Bo • Born — 20 July 1988 • Birthplace — Jinan, Shandong, China • Died — 12 October 2017 • Place of death — Beijing, China • Death Cause — Suicide • Education — Beijing Film Academy • Years Active — 2014–2017 • Occupation — * Author • film director Hu Bo (20 July 1988 – 12 October 2017), also known by his pen name Hu Qian, was a Chinese novelist and film director, best known for his only feature film An Elephant Sitting Still (2018), which garnered widespread praise from critics. He died by suicide on 12 October 2017 at the age of 29, soon after he finished that film.
Early life
Early life
Born in 1988 in Jinan, Shandong, China, Hu Bo graduated from Beijing Film Academy with a degree in Film Directing in 2014.
Career
Career
Hu's short film Distant Father (2014) won Best Director at the 4th Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival. His two novels, Huge Crack, and Bullfrog, were both published in 2017. The production of his first feature An Elephant Sitting Still (2018), based on a story with the same title from his 2017 novel Huge Crack, began in July 2016. He killed himself soon after finishing the film on 12 October 2017 at the age of 29, making it his first and last feature film. According to reports, his death was due to conflicts over the film with his producers Liu Xuan and Wang Xiaoshuai.
Novels
Novels
• Huge Crack (大裂) (2017) • Bullfrog (牛蛙) (2017) • Farewell to the Faraway (远处的拉莫) (2018)
Filmography
Filmography
• To Cordoba (short, 2011) • Milk Stealer (short, 2012) • Distant Father (short, 2014) • Night Runner (short, 2014) • Man in the Well (short, 2017) • An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2017
Hu Bo died at Beijing.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Jinan.
Birth place
Beijing.
Death place
Awards
• 2014 – 4th Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival: Best Director (Distant Father) • 2018 – 55th Golden Horse Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay (An Elephant Sitting Still)
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Shackleton, Liz. Rediance picks up Hu Bo's An Elephant Sitting Still (exclusive). Screen International. 15 February 2018.
- 2.AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL. GAIFF. 14 July 2018.
- 3.An Elephant Sitting Still. Venice Biennale. 2018.
- 4.Chinese filmmakers help next-gen features get Berlin Film Festival premieres. SCMP. 15 February 2018.
- 5.独家调查:青年导演胡波之死. ent.qq.com. 18 October 2018.
- 6.D'Angelo, Mike. Tragedy looms over the epically depressive debut/swan song An Elephant Sitting Still. The A.V. Club. March 5, 2019.
- 7.Ehrlich, David. 'An Elephant Sitting Still’ Review: The First and Last Masterpiece of a Great Filmmaker Gone Too Soon. IndieWire. March 8, 2019.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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