Canadian-Jewish writer discusses her award-winning Jewish movie

• Author: AVNER SHAVIT
• Published date: 08 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Not surprisingly, Emma Seligman's Shiva Baby won the prize for Best Jewish Film. According to the site, this film was picked due to its "originality, excellent acting and its general vibe," as well as because "it offered the most authentic portrait seen on screen of Jewish Ashkenazi culture" and "the vital and refreshing representation of people in the queer community."

The film premiered 18 months ago, though its screening in theaters has been delayed for some time due to COVID-19. But when the film finally made its debut at local theaters, it became a cinematic sensation that earned a number of awards, extensive compliments in the general media, as well as sparking quite a stir on social media. After being screened at a number of film festivals, Shiva Baby is currently being screened at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, as well as on streaming services such as HBO Max.

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Shiva Baby, which is the Canadian writer and film director's first full-length film, is based on the script of a short film Seligman directed herself in the past. Rachel Sennott portrays the protagonist, a young Jewish woman who makes a shiva visit with her parents, only to discover that her sugar-daddy, as well as her ex-best friend and lover are also there. As is to happen at shiva visits, a swarm of her neurotic relatives and neighbors are overly inquisitive about her personal life and ask her endless questions about her future job prospects. As the review in Hey Alma states, the film asks what would happen if you were to take a young neurotic woman and plunk her right in the middle of her greatest nightmare, together with her parents and friends? The resulting scene would be overwhelmingly Jewish in character.

"My ambition was that Shiva Baby be screened at a film festival, so that it would get a minimal amount of exposure. That was pretty much the extent of my expectation," admits Seligman in an interview held over Zoom just before the film's debut screening in Israel.

"I never imagined it would be so successful. But even more than getting great reviews, what's really moved me are the reactions of people who've watched it. Many Jewish bisexual women who saw the film told me that finally they are seeing themselves portrayed in a movie. From my point of view, this is the biggest achievement. I've also heard of grandmothers who watched it together with their...