STRANGER AT THE GATE, a timely, award-winning documentary about a planned hate crime that takes a stunning turn

The documentary short film “Stranger at the Gate,” a prize winner at this year’s Tribeca Festival, will be published by The New Yorker as part of the magazine’s award-winning New Yorker Documentary series, and will début on newyorker.com and on The New Yorker’s YouTube channel on September 14th. “Stranger at the Gate” will be available worldwide.

Praised by film critics and considered a leading awards contender, “Stranger at the Gate” tells the true story of the U.S. Marine Richard (Mac) McKinney. Suffering from P.T.S.D., McKinney decides to bomb the mosque in his home town of Muncie, Indiana. When he arrives at the mosque to gather more information for his plan, the congregants, including Afghan refugees and an African American convert, welcome him, get to know him, and show him deep love and kindness. Within weeks, the story takes a stunning turn. Instead of committing an act of violence, McKinney converts to Islam and becomes president of the mosque.

“Stranger at the Gate” is the newest film in Seftel’s decade-long effort to combat Islamophobia and shatter stereotypes: “Secret Life of Muslims,” a series of shorts nominated for Emmy, Peabody, and IDA Documentary Awards. The strategy of the series, which has more than seventy million views to date, is to tell stories in many different formats, from short films to animations to music videos. Its partners include Vox, the New York Times, NPR, and now The New Yorker.

Seftel’s deep committment to the mission of his project stems from his having experienced antisemitism as a child. “When I began to notice the level of Islamophobia in the U.S., I thought, Maybe I can do something as a filmmaker to give a more accurate depiction of American Muslims.”

The project met obstacles early on, but picked up momentum when Donald Trump began his Presidential campaign. Seftel has occasionally received hate mail for his work, but mostly he has been lauded, including with the Muslim Public Affairs Council Hollywood Bureau Media Award (shared with Sir Bob Geldof and the director Lena Khan) and the upcoming El Hibri Foundation Peace Awards’ Fearless Ally Award, which he will receive in late October. Seftel is known for directing work with a social conscience, including the Emmy-winning landmark series “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” the political satire “War, Inc.”—starring John Cusack, Marisa Tomei, and Ben Kingsley—and many award-winning documentary films.

UPCOMING SCREENINGS:

WBUR City Space – Wednesday, September 21st, at 6:30 P.M., 890 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
Port Townsend Film Festival
Bend Film Festival
Omega Institute – Saturday, October 8th, at 8:00 P.M., 150 Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Hamptons Film Festival
JW3 – Thursday, October 20th, 341-351 Finchley Road, London NW3 6ET, United Kingdom
Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock – Sunday, October 23rd, 48 Shelter Rock Road, Manhasset, NY 11030
Ludlow House – Wednesday, October 26th, 139 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002
Doctober – Sunday, October 30th, 1318 Bay Street, Bellingham, WA 98225
Doctober Encore – Thursday, November 3rd, 1318 Bay Street, Bellingham, WA 98225
Commonwealth Club – Tuesday, November 29th, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105
The Rubin Museum – Friday, December 2nd, 150 W. 17th Street, New York, NY 10011