Emma Seligman

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Emma Seligman
Seligman smiling
Seligman in 2020
Born (1995-05-03) May 3, 1995 (age 29)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma materNew York University
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, Director

Emma Seligman (born May 3, 1995) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. She[a] is best known for the films Shiva Baby (2020) and Bottoms (2023).

Early life and education

Seligman was born on May 3, 1995, in Toronto, Ontario, to a Jewish family.[1] She was raised in a Reform Ashkenazi community in Toronto and attended Northern Secondary School there. Her bat mitzvah ceremony was held on Masada in Israel; the party that followed, held in 2008, was filmmaker-themed.[1][2] She grew up watching At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper wanting to "be Roger Ebert."[3] As a teenager, Seligman ran a now-defunct blog called Confessions of a Teenage Film Buff and contributed film reviews to The Huffington Post,[4][5] including a review for Spring Breakers, which she wrote at seventeen years old.[1] She studied film at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, graduating in May 2017.[6][7] Seligman remained in New York after graduating and interned with the production company Animal Kingdom.[8]

Career

While at NYU, she made short films including Lonewoods, Void, and her senior thesis film, Shiva Baby. During this time, Seligman also interned at a variety of production studios. She also served on the Toronto International Film Festival's select youth committee, where she helped program films for the festival.[9][10]

Her thesis film, Shiva Baby, was selected for 2018 South by Southwest film festival. At the encouragement of the short film's star, Rachel Sennott, whom she befriended during the audition process, Seligman began developing it into a feature, where Sennott would reprise her lead role.[11][12] It was Sennott's unique style of comedy and knack for uncomfortable humor that transformed Shiva Baby into more of a comedy than the original short film's intense dramedy approach.[13] Seligman also cited inspiration from the horror and thriller genres that helped to form the film's "claustrophobic look."[14] The feature-length version of Shiva Baby was set to premiere at 2020 South by Southwest, but the premiere was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] The film eventually premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.[16]

Shiva Baby was met with critical acclaim. Kristy Puchko of The Playlist wrote, "It's astounding this is Seligman's first film, how masterfully she orchestrates the tension and comedy,"[17] and Dana Piccoli for Queer Media Matters praised that "while Seligman is still a relative newcomer to the film world, she handles Shiva Baby like an experienced pro."[18] In 2022, the film won the John Cassavetes Award from Film Independent, at the time designated for productions with budgets of $500,000 or less.[b][19] In an interview with The Upcoming in 2021 after the film's release, Seligman expressed her desire to continue to create complicated female characters and narratives, beyond the confines of being viewed as "messy," just as there are a plethora of complicated male characters on screen who are not given this designation.[13]

Seligman reunited with Rachel Sennott for her second feature film, Bottoms, a teen sex comedy in which two high school lesbians start a fight club in order to attract their cheerleader crushes. Seligman had the idea for the film while still at NYU, and began working on it with Sennott there.[15] She says she was inspired by her love for teen romantic comedies and sex comedies, while wanting to combine those elements with those of a superhero film or buddy comedy.[20] Bottoms was scored by English singer-songwriter Charli XCX.[21] To promote Bottoms, Seligman appeared on the cover of New York Magazine with the films' stars Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri. The film headlined the SXSW film festival on March 11, 2023.[22] Aisha Harris of NPR praised the film writing, "Sennott and Seligman strike both a sweet and an abrasive tone that's tricky to pull off, though they do so quite handily."[23] Seligman's inspiration for the film came from high-school comedies such as Bring It On, Mean Girls, and Grease.[21]

Seligman's work often focuses on sexual themes, particularly women's relationship to sex. Regarding this choice, she has stated:

Women decode sexual messaging from a young age, from eight years old to twenty-two years old. They have to process what sex means, what it can do for them, what it should do for them, what they're supposed to do for it. Technology, for example with porn or dating sites, has made the sexual messaging more confusing, and I'm interested in how women figure it out.[6]

She has stated that her filmmaking process as a very collaborative experience, and enjoys being able to discuss her work with her actors.[6]

As Seligman's career continues, she stated that she wants to continue making "weird" queer and Jewish stories on an increasingly larger scale.[20]

Personal life

Seligman uses both "she/her" and "they/them" pronouns. She formerly identified as bisexual, but as of 2023 considers herself "just gay".[24] Seligman briefly moved to Los Angeles in 2021, but resides in Bushwick as of 2023.[25][15]

Seligman has expressed support for Palestinians in the face of Israeli occupation.[26][27]

Her favorite Jewish movies are Yentl, Keeping the Faith, Fiddler on the Roof, Kissing Jessica Stein, Crossing Delancey and A Serious Man. Reflecting on these influences, she has stated, “Looking back, I don't know how my Jewish film journey, how Shiva Baby, would have come about without those movies, or what it would have been like without them laying the groundwork."[1]

Filmography

Film work by Emma Seligman
Year Title Notes
2018 Void[6] Short film
2018 Shiva Baby[6] Short film
2020 Shiva Baby[16] Feature adaptation of 2018 short
2023 Bottoms Feature film

Awards and nominations

See also: List of accolades received by Shiva Baby
Year Association Category Work Result Ref(s).
2018 South by Southwest Best Narrative Short Shiva Baby Nominated [28][29]
2020 Denver Film Festival American Independent Award Shiva Baby Special mention: New Comedic Voice [30]
Filmmaker Magazine 25 New Faces of Indie Film 2020 Listed [31]
Miami International Film Festival Jordan Ressler First Feature Award Nominated [32]
Outfest Best Screenwriting Won [33]
Out on Film Best First Film Runner-up [34]
TIFF Critics Poll Best Screenplay Runner-up [16]
Variety
Presented at the Mill Valley Film Festival 		10 Screenwriters to Watch Listed [35][36]
2021 The Braddies Best Debut Listed [37]
Chicago Film Critics Association Milos Stehlik Breakthrough Filmmaker Award Nominated [38]
Detroit Film Critics Society Breakthrough Won[c] [39]
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards Best First Film Nominated [40]
Gotham Independent Film Awards Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award Nominated [41]
Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards Best Filmmaker Nominated [42]
Best Screenplay Nominated
IndieWire Critics Poll Best First Feature Fourth [43]
The Jewish Week 36 Under 36 Listed [44][45]
The New York Times Best Directing (Comedy) Won [46]
The ReFrame Stamp Narrative Feature Listed [47][48]
2022 Apolo Awards Best New Director Nominated [49]
Best Adapted Screenplay Won
Austin Film Critics Association Best First Film Nominated [50]
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films Best Original Screenplay Nominated [51]
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film Nominated [52]
DiscussingFilm Critics Awards Best Debut Feature Nominated [53]
Independent Spirit Awards John Cassavetes Award Won[d] [54]
Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Debut Feature Nominated [55]
Toronto Film Critics Association Best First Feature Runner-up[e] [56]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Seligman uses both "she/her" and "they/them" pronouns. This article uses "she/her" pronouns for consistency.
  2. ^ The criteria for the John Cassavetes Award have since expanded to include films budgeted at $1 million or less.
  3. ^ Shared with Woody Norman for C'mon C'mon.
  4. ^ With Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller and Lizzie Shapiro for Shiva Baby.
  5. ^ Shared with Passing and Pig.

References

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Further reading