American film director, Emily Sheskin, discusses her new, heartwarming documentary being shown at the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF).
Emily is an award-winning film and commercial director who tells stories full of optimism and resilience, without glossing over life’s challenges. Her short films have featured in The New York Times, National Geographic, The Atlantic.
Her first feature film, JessZilla, about a young girl’s ambition to be a boxer, premiered in 2023 at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival where it was in competition. It went on to play at notable festivals around the world (IDFA, DOC NYC, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival) and won awards with Slamdance, Fargo, Rhode Island, Ridgefield, and Atlanta Film Festivals. She is currently co-owner of Chicken Wing Pictures.
Emily’s new short documentary, LIVESTREAMS WITH GRANDMAPUZZLES, premiered at Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival where it won an audience award for ‘Favourite Short Film’, and will screen at the upcoming, Oscar-qualifying, Cleveland Film Festival.
The documentary stars an African-American grandmother, Adele Tiffith, affectionately called “Gma”, who turns her puzzle passion into her own streaming platform. She went on to be a three-time BIPOC Streamer Award winning Twitch streamer. Adele credits her community of 24.8k followers with giving her a new lease on life and says that the success she is having is only because of their belief and encouragement.
I was fortunate to get in touch with Emily Sheskin and discuss in a Q and A the process of making her new film and the opportunity to play at so many festivals.
Joseph Jenkinson: Firstly, Emily, many congratulations on your latest movie. The movie is being shown at the Fargo, Montclair, Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festivals. And of course, there’s more showings to come! What was the Cleveland Festival like and how does it feel to have your short shown at all these festivals?
Emily Sheskin: This was my first time at the Cleveland Film Festival and I was really impressed by it – the audience turnout/participation, how amazing the festival staff are/how well run it is, and how beautiful the theatres are. Last year, my film JessZilla (feature documentary) had been programmed but I wasn’t able to attend and I swore if we were able to get in with Livestreams with GrandmaPuzzles I would make attending a priority.
While I was thrilled to get the opportunity to attend, I’ve been really touched by how this short continues to resonate with programmers and audiences all over the country. When you make a film, especially a documentary, there’s this excitement you get during production where you see moments of magic and hope it will translate in the final product. Then, it goes out into the world and you have no idea how people will feel about it, despite your feelings and best efforts to execute whatever vision you had for the film. So, to that point, when a film has the kind of reception that Livestreams with GrandmaPuzzles has gotten it’s really meaningful.
JJ: The movie truly is extraordinary in how it’s about a grandmother making a Twitch stream out of puzzle solving. How did you find such an exceptional premise for a documentary?
ES: Coming off my feature which is now 10-years in the making, I wanted to try and play in a different visual sandbox while still taking inspiration from Jesselyn’s [the subject of JessZilla] optimism and zest for life. When you’re a documentary filmmaker, you find yourself at the mercy of locations where you don’t have a lot of control. With JessZilla, we were in a lot of hotels and convention centres or gyms where we couldn’t interrupt what was happening with lights or large camera setups.
I wanted to experience what it was like to have control, and when I was thinking about a “Wes Anderson” inspired kind of documentary, puzzles popped into my head. I went down a rabbit hole where I learned about the speed puzzling community, watched Wicker Kittens (2014), realized Mike Scholtz worked on it, talked his ear off when I saw him at the Fargo Film Festival in 2023, and learned his partner Val is on the board of the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association.
He told me he was done making films on this subject but gave me his blessing and a hot tip – a charming grandmother who attended a tournament with her son, who also has a twitch following. I had to know more and thanks to Val, was introduced to Adele over email where we zoom chatted and came up with a plan to film.
JJ: What was it like first meeting Adele and getting to know her in the process of making your documentary?
ES: It’s probably no surprise she’s a delight. The whole time she was expressing her gratitude for her community. For us, the crew. For the experience. She’s the kind of person that doesn’t realize it’s our privilege to know her. At Cleveland, a member from her twitch community drove 2 hours from Columbus to watch our 6-minute film. When I thanked him for taking the time he kept saying, “It was a no-brainer, I had to!”
Adele gives everyone so much it makes it so easy to support her. She always thanks me for doing this, but truthfully, I feel as if I’ve been lucky enough to hitch my star to her wagon. She’s got a special quality that comes from the type of authenticity many people are too scared to have. I love that about her.
JJ: Your movie invokes a lot of positive energy in the audience, not just because of Adele’s warm personality and the gorgeous colouring of the cinematography, but also the subject. It’s so sweet to see Adele make something out of a game many of us played as children. Was nostalgia part an intended theme while making this movie?
ES: Truthfully, I didn’t intend for nostalgia to colour the film, but I do see how it would and nostalgia definitely plays a part in Adele’s story. I’ve always felt a good documentary has a sense of objectivity to it – I have a perspective but I allow what you bring as a viewer to compliment what’s on screen. I have definitely had many people share their own puzzling experiences just as I’ve had people share their experiences as empty nesters.
The beauty of this shared human experience is that despite all our differences on the surface, so much of what we go through is universal – puzzles included, perhaps.
JJ: How do you feel this movie speaks to modern, younger audiences through the inclusion of Twitch streaming?
ES: I didn’t anticipate that, but I think it does. We’ve been programmed in education programs and it seems to play well because the kids relate more to the Twitch streaming and influencer angle than being a grandmother who does puzzles.
The thing that struck me, an old millennial who is not on Twitch, was how community can look different but is incredibly important. The friendships she has reminded me of friendships I’ve made on Twitter, Tumblr, or online forums that carried over to meeting in person. I consider some of these folks’ good friends, despite mostly only seeing them as a screenname.
I also think for a lot of people who struggle to make connections, sometimes your people aren’t the ones you go to school with or work with – sometimes they’re online and across the globe and isn’t that wonderful too? I wanted to celebrate that as it’s something I’ve experienced personally.
JJ: I treated myself to your first short – Girl Boxer – and the feature film based off it – Jussila. Both excellent films that were inspirational but also hard-hitting given the subject matter. What made you transition from a 10–15-year-old girl wanting to box to a grandmother who loves puzzles?
ES: I know that Jesselyn, Pedro [main characters from JessZilla] and Adele are very different on paper, but their spirits are similar. I love finding exceptional people who are part of vibrant communities and who want to inspire others around them through example. Jesselyn was a never-say-quit, nothing-is-too-hard, kind of powerhouse that wanted to inspire other young girls to pick up a pair of gloves and give boxing a try.
Adele is someone who has been through a lot in her life, and now uses her story to help others keep going. She is extremely vulnerable with her community when she streams. She speaks on the importance of mental health and offering support to those in the midst of their struggle. She has a discord for when she’s not streaming where the community can chat and check in on one another.
So, while the styles of these films are really different, in many ways the people on screen share the same kind of bravery and authenticity. At the end of the day, I feel too many bad people in this world have been given access to a megaphone and I’d love to help counter some of that noise by handing it to some of the best amongst us.
JJ: Both may be aesthetically different, but they share similar themes about the underrepresented and how that aligns with their hobbies or livelihood goals. How do you approach your subjects as a filmmaker, and a documentary director at that? Was it about the marginalised that attracts you to make a film?
ES: My process is a very collaborative one that usually starts with a conversation. I make it clear that I have an idea for what this might be, but I’m not about to dictate or put words in your mouth. With “Girl Boxer” we chatted for months before a camera was ever picked up because I needed Jesselyn to know she had agency and could exercise boundaries with us. I think making it clear that the set is a space for a conversation versus an interview is important in that way.
I grew up Jewish in a town where the majority of people were Catholic. My parents were both teachers, not rich, no movie or media connections. There were moments growing up where I experienced discrimination and grappled with my identity as a secular Jew who simultaneously felt “not Jewish enough” and “too Jewish” at times. I have been made acutely aware that we are 2% of the global population and continue to see harmful tropes and stereotypes that fuel hate. I have experienced some of that hate firsthand as well as ignorant comments that exist in this grey space between “maybe they are well intentioned” and “hateful”.
I believe all people who have had this kind of experience (be it because of their religion or colour of their skin) are connected. While I may not ever fully understand your pain, I understand another flavour of it as I have lived it. If I can help you tell your story and give you power in a world that wants to take it away, I feel good about that. And more importantly, I want to hear it. I want to share it.
My hope is that when people realize we are more similar than we are different, we can move towards a place of long-lasting peace.
JJ: I see that you are working on a feature Puzzle People. Will that be based around Adele, the same way JessZilla was an extension of Boxing Girl? Or will we explore different figures of the puzzle community?
ES: I would love and am expecting Adele and her story to be a part of that film, but am hoping to create something that’s more of an ensemble piece that opens the door for conversations around mental health and neurodiversity. We’re currently working on materials with the hope of raising money to bring it to life and we hope the success of our short will help pave the way!
LIVESTREAMS WITH GRANDMAPUZZLES screened at The Cleveland International Film Festival on April 2 as part of Shorts Program 10 and will be available on CIFF Streams from April 6-13.
Adele can be followed on various social media platforms under the username @ijustlovepuzzles. Emily is currently working on Puzzle People, with her frequently-collaborated producer Ben Kainz, which their second feature documentary.
