Onwriting: A Podcast Of The Wga East

For the first part of our OnWriting Pride Month series, Geri is joined by Emma Seligman, writer and director of SHIVA BABY, to discuss the challenges of writing and directing a low-budget first feature, the ways Judaism and a love of cinema have shaped her storytelling, and how the film uses anxiety and a horror soundtrack to heighten the tension and the comedy. Emma Seligman is a Canadian filmmaker. While studying film at NYU, she made a number of short films, including “Lonewoods,” “Void,” and her thesis project, “Shiva Baby,” which had its world premiere at the 2018 South by Southwest film festival. SHIVA BABY is the feature-length adaptation of that project, and Seligman’s feature debut. The film follows Jewish, bisexual college senior Danielle as she—along with her family, her ex-girlfriend, and, to her shock, her sugar daddy—attends a shiva for a barely-remembered relative. The film—which premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and has since received widespread critical acclaim, includ