The film centers on a wooden doll who desperately wants to fit in makes an ill-fated wish upon a star, sparking a journey of self-discovery.

[1][2] On December 22, 2023, it was reported that Searit Kahsay Huluf would write and direct a stop motion/computer-animated short film titled Self.

[2][3][1] In a February 2024 interview, Huluf said that the thought of how she could self sabotage had initiated the idea behind the short, mentioning that she enjoyed the word self and following her emotions.

I wanted to tell a story about an immigrant experience of coming to an urban city and the struggles of belonging and also directly indirectly being forced to conform.

[8][9] Lee Brown, of The Review Geek, gave the short a 7.5/10 rating, writing in a positive review "on the evidence of her work on the visually impressive Self, which manages to tell a strong message in a very short running time, we think Huluf is destined for even greater things in the future".