In Emma Seligman’s film “Shiva Baby” near college graduate, Danielle, gets paid by her sugar daddy and rushes to meet her parents at a family shiva. Upon arrival, she is accosted by various relatives about her appearance and lack of plans. Danielle's day takes an unexpected turn when her sugar daddy arrives at the shiva with his accomplished wife and their baby. As the day unfolds, Danielle struggles to keep up different versions of herself, fend off pressures from her family and confront her insecurities without completely losing it.
The Woodstock Film Festival will present a solar-powered screening of “Shiva Baby” on June 17 at 9 p.m. at the Bearsville Center's outdoor lawn in collaboration with Oscillation Transia.
Emma Seligman is a Canadian filmmaker and 2017 graduate of NYU. Her short, "Shiva Baby," premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival in 2018. The feature adaptation was selected to screen at South by Southwest Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and OutFest LA, where it won Best US Screenwriting. In 2020, Emma was named one of Variety’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch and one of Filmmaker Mag’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
