Emma Seligman

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Emma Seligman
Emma Seligman BJFF 2020 interview (cropped).png
Seligman speaks to the Boston Jewish Film Festival in 2020
Born (1995-05-03) May 3, 1995 (age 26)
Toronto, Canada

Emma Seligman is a Canadian[1][2] film director and screenwriter, best known for her feature directorial debut Shiva Baby (2020).

Career[]

As a teenager, Emma Seligman contributed film reviews to The Huffington Post.[3] She studied film at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, graduating in May 2017, and is based in New York City.[1][2] While at NYU she made short films including Lonewoods and 2018's Void and Shiva Baby. Her thesis film, Shiva Baby went to the 2018 South by Southwest film festival. At the same time, she began developing it into a feature film, the 2020 release Shiva Baby. Seligman's films focus on sexual themes, particularly the relationship between women and sex, with the director saying that "women decode sexual messaging from a young age, [and] technology, for example with porn or dating sites, has made the sexual messaging more confusing, and [she's] interested in how women figure it out."[1]

She has discussed her filmmaking process as a very collaborative experience, though she spends a lot of time on writing, and enjoys being able to discuss their work with her actors.[1]

As a screenwriter and director, Seligman has received acclaim for the feature film Shiva Baby. It premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). In the critics poll of the TIFF line-up, it placed second for Best Screenplay behind One Night in Miami.[4] Critics have commended it as a debut, with Kristy Puchko of The Playlist writing that "it's astounding this is Seligman's first film, [considering] how masterfully she orchestrates the tension and comedy",[5] and Dana Piccoli for Queer Media Matters praising that "while Seligman is still a relative newcomer to the film world, she handles Shiva Baby like an experienced pro".[6]

Personal life[]

Seligman is bisexual and Jewish,[7] and uses she/they pronouns.[8] She was raised in a Reform Judaism Ashkenazi community in Toronto and had her Bat Mitzvah ceremony on Masada in Israel.[9][10] She moved to Los Angeles in 2021.[11]

Awards and nominations[]

See also: Shiva Baby § Accolades
Year Association Category Work Result Ref(s).
2020 Filmmaker Magazine 25 New Faces of Indie Film 2020 Shiva Baby Won [12]
Miami International Film Festival Jordan Ressler First Feature Award Nominated [13]
Outfest Best Screenwriting Won [14]
Out on Film Best First Film Runner-up [15]
Variety
Presented at the Mill Valley Film Festival 		10 Screenwriters to Watch Won [16][17]
2021 Detroit Film Critics Society Breakthrough Won[a] [18]
Gotham Independent Film Awards Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award Nominated [19]
Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards Best Filmmaker Nominated [20]
Best Screenplay Nominated
The ReFrame Stamp Narrative Feature Won [21][22]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Shared with Woody Norman for C'mon C'mon.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Interview with Emma Seligman". FEMFILMFANS. Archived from the original on 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  2. ^ a b Mikel, Ryan. "Tisch Alumna Talks Sugar Babies, Shivas and SXSW". Washington Square News. Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  3. ^ Seligman, Emma (September 18, 2012). "REVIEW: 'Spring Breakers'". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on January 7, 2017.
  4. ^ Blauvelt, Christian; Kohn, Eric (2020-09-21). "TIFF 2020 Report Card: Critics Rank the Best Films and Performances". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  5. ^ Puchko, Kristy (March 25, 2020). "'Shiva Baby' Delivers A Hilarious Symphony Of Tension And Humiliation-Based Comedy [Review]". theplaylist.net. Archived from the original on 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  6. ^ Piccoli, Dana (2020-08-26). "Outfest 2020: A young bisexual woman confronts her past and present in the very funny, "Shiva Baby"". Queer Media Matters. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  7. ^ "Meet the Canadian Women Directors of TIFF 2020". Elle Canada. Archived from the original on 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  8. ^ "Emma Seligman, Thank You For Coming Out (While Staying In)". Player FM. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  9. ^ The Current Debate: The Jewishness of “Shiva Baby” Archived 2021-06-09 at the Wayback Machine Mubi. 8 April 2021
  10. ^ 'Shiva Baby' Director Emma Seligman Regrets Screening 'Chinatown' At Her Bat Mitzvah Archived 2021-06-10 at the Wayback Machine Samantha Leach substack. 30 March 2021
  11. ^ How Director Emma Seligman Made Shiva Baby an Anxiety-Inducing Trip Archived 2021-06-10 at the Wayback Machine Harpers Bazaar. 2 April 2021
  12. ^ Luers, Erik (2021-04-05). ""Fish is Expensive to Keep Purchasing and Replacing": Emma Seligman on Shiva Baby". Filmmaker Magazine. Archived from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  13. ^ Miami Film Festival (2020). "SHIVA BABY". Archived from the original on 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
    Miami Film Festival (2020). "Jordan Ressler First Feature Award". Archived from the original on 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  14. ^ Kleinmann, James (2020-09-11). "TIFF 2020 Film Review: Shiva Baby ★★★★★". The Queer Review. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  15. ^ Out on Film (2020-10-08). "Out On Film Announces 2020 Jury and Audience Awards". Georgia Voice. Archived from the original on 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  16. ^ MVFF (2020). "BEHIND THE SCREENS – Mill Valley Film Festival". Archived from the original on 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  17. ^ Countryman, Eli (2020-09-24). "Variety Announces 10 Screenwriters to Watch for 2020". Variety. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  18. ^ "The 2021 Detroit Film Critics Society (DFCS) Winners". Next Best Picture. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  19. ^ Kay, Jeremy (November 30, 2021). "'The Lost Daughter' triumphs at 2021 Gotham Awards". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  20. ^ Neglia, Matt (July 1, 2021). "The 2021 Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) Midseason Awards Winners". Next Best Picture. Archived from the original on 2021-07-11. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  21. ^ ReFrame Project (February 18, 2021). "Stamp Feature Film". Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  22. ^ Business Wire (February 17, 2021). "ReFrame and IMDbPro Announce 2020 ReFrame Stamp Recipients Including: Birds of Prey, The Old Guard, Promising Young Woman, Wonder Woman 1984". Archived from the original on 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2021-02-18.

External links[]

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