Shiva Baby (2020)
Director: Emma Seligman Run Time: 77 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2020
Starring: Danny Deferrari, Fred Melamed, Molly Gordon, Polly Draper, Rachel Sennott
Country: United States, Canada
Language: English
About the film:
The critically acclaimed debut feature from Emma Seligman, writer-director of the upcoming comedy Bottoms (2023), opening at the Film Center on September 1, 2023. Learn more.
World Premiere, 2020 SXSW Film Festival
Official Selection, 2020 Toronto International Film Festival
Winner, 2020 L.A. OutFest, Outstanding Screenwriting in a U.S. Feature
Winner, 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards, John Cassavetes Award
College student Danielle must cover her tracks when she unexpectedly runs into her sugar daddy at a shiva – with her parents, ex-girlfriend and family friends also in attendance. As the day unfolds, a frazzled Danielle struggles to keep up different versions of herself without completely losing it.
“A sharp-witted dark comedy… blends a claustrophobic Jewish humor with a sexy premise to deliver a lively debut.”
– Jude Dry, IndieWire
About the filmmaker:
Emma Seligman is a Canadian writer and director whose filmmaking journey began at age nine as a jury member at TIFF’s Sprockets festival for kids. She made her feature directorial debut with the sharp-witted dark comedy Shiva Baby (2020) which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, screened at Toronto, and won the L.A. OutFest screenwriting prize and the John Cassavetes Award at the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Seligman developed the film from her NYU thesis, a comedy short which premiered at the 2018 SXSW film festival. In 2020, she was named one of Variety’s 10 “Screenwriters to Watch” and one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film”. Her second feature film Bottoms (2023) was nominated for a 2023 SXSW Audience Award.
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