And Death Didn’t Come

Live forever. Die young.

ABOUT

The scientist who finds the cure for death does so for one reason: love. Awestruck by the possibilities of spending forever with the person she loves, she overlooks the consequences of humanity’s newfound immortality.

However, issues of class, climate, and resource scarcity boil under the surface until, finally, the bloated population of the world buckles under the weight of these unattended issues. What does this mean for these people who can live forever, but who are quickly running out of the resources to do so?

YEAR      2023

RUN TIME      10:09 Min

EMAIL cry.tubman@gmail.com        Website:

CAST & CREW CREDITS

WRITER-DIRECTOCrystal Tubman

PRODUCER  Hao Sun

PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR  Kit Scott

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR  Kaitlyn Briselli

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY  Jiangshan Li

1st ASSISTANT CAMERA  Rick Li

BOOM OPERATOR  Jiapeng Xiang

GAFFER  Neil Compuesto

SET DESIGNER  Kit Scott

PROP MASTER / COSTUME MANAGER  Bin Zhang

EDITOR  Crystal Tubman

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS  Wenjing Yang

PRINCIPAL CAST

Janell Williams  |  Mariah Busk  |  Sarah Cole

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

When I was about 4 or 5 years old, I learned what immortality meant and it scared the shit out of me.

And Death Didn’t Come explores the fears I had as a young child while also pulling from the events I have experienced as an adult. The main character in the film expresses what I didn’t feel as a child but may have felt in another timeline: hope at the thought of never-ending life.

The film explores the rise and fall of society in the wake of the discovery of the cure for death. It does this over the course of two sections: the first is composed of diegetic film clips that the film’s characters would have had access to, and the second is two scenes that show the life of the main character after the fall of society.

By linking these sections in this way, I want audiences to experience fear as the world placed in front of them falls to ruin in ways meant to mimic the problems in our own society. As the film explores class, climate, and resource scarcity, my hope is that the audience can connect these issues to their own lives.

Sci-fi reflects the best and worst in humanity, and I have always viewed the genre as a sandbox in which our own world and others can intermingle. In this way, sci fi was the most appropriate genre to express what I wanted to in this film.

Farewell My Son Poster

DIRECTOR BIO

Crystal Tubman grew up in a small town near Richmond, Virginia. At the age of 19 she discovered her passion for film and moved to Norfolk to pursue a degree in Communications with an emphasis in Film and Media Studies. She now attends the Maryland Institute College of Art in pursuit of her MFA with the hopes of one day teaching and further pursuing her art on an independent basis. And Death Didn’t Come is her directorial debut.

INTERVIEWS

FILM AND PRODUCTION STILLS

AWARDS

 

FULL FILM

Currently under 2-year embargo (2025)

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Crystal Tubman grew up in a small town near Richmond, Virginia. At the age of 19 she discovered her passion for film and moved to Norfolk to pursue a degree in Communications with an emphasis in Film and Media Studies. She now attends the Maryland Institute College of Art in pursuit of her MFA with the hopes of one day teaching and further pursuing her art on an independent basis. And Death Didn’t Come is her directorial debut.

(Update provided in May 2023)