An Elephant Sitting Still

At a small town in northern China – YU Cheng sees his friend jump to death. High school student WEI Bu pushes YU’s brother down a staircase. HUANG Ling, WEI’s classmate, falls for the charms of a school official. WANG Jin, who helps WEI on his escape, is being pressured by his family to move to a senior home. In one day and on this very same day, they come to know that there is an elephant sitting still in the far north city of Manzhouli, and their lives become intertwined.

Born in 1988 in China, writer and director Hu Bo graduated from Beijing Film Academy in 2014 with a B.F.A. degree in directing. His short film Distant Father (2014) won Best Director at Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival, and Night Runner (2014) was selected by Taipei Golden Horse Film Academy. His debut feature An Elephant Sitting Still, which was then still in progress, was selected by the FIRST International Film Festival Financing Forum in 2016. In the following year, Hu Bo participated in FIRST Training Camp under the supervision of Béla Tarr, where he completed the short film Man in the Well. He has also written two novels Huge Crack and Bullfrog, both published in 2017.

Hu Bo took his own life soon after finishing An Elephant Sitting Still.