Emma Seligman (born May 3, 1995) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for their feature directorial debut '' Shiva Baby'' (2020).

Career

As a teenager, Emma Seligman contributed film reviews to ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. They studied film at

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the ar ...

, graduating in May 2017, and is based in New York City. While at NYU they 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, they 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, ndtechnology, for example with porn or dating sites, has made the sexual messaging more confusing, and he'sinterested in how women figure it out." They have discussed their filmmaking process as a very collaborative experience, though they spend a lot of time on writing, and enjoy being able to discuss their work with their actors. 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). Critics have commended it as a debut, with Kristy Puchko of ''The Playlist'' writing that "it's astounding this is Seligman's first film, onsideringhow masterfully she orchestrates the tension and comedy", 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".

Personal life

Seligman is bisexual and Jewish, and uses she/they pronouns. She was raised in a

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

Ashkenazi community in Toronto and had her Bat Mitzvah ceremony on

Masada Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the D ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. She moved to Los Angeles in 2021.How Director Emma Seligman Made Shiva Baby an Anxiety-Inducing Trip
Harpers Bazaar. 2 April 2021

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seligman, Emma 1995 births Living people 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Bisexual women Bisexual writers Canadian women screenwriters Canadian women film directors Film directors from Toronto LGBT film directors LGBT Jews LGBT screenwriters LGBT writers from Canada Jewish Canadian filmmakers Jewish Canadian writers Jewish women writers Shiva Baby Tisch School of the Arts alumni Writers from Toronto