Malala joins Oscar Shortlist film about US Marine's conversion to Islam

'Stranger at the Gate' tells the tale of Richard “Mac” McKinney, who initially planned on bombing a mosque

After joining Pakistan's Oscar submission, Joyland, as its executive producer, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, has now boarded another Oscar Shortlisted film about a US Marine's change of heart. Stranger at the Gate tells the tale of a US Marine, Richard “Mac” McKinney, who initially planned on bombing a mosque but instead converted to Islam. 

The documentary has won several accolades at multiple film festivals. Suffering from PTSD, McKinney set out to explode a mosque in his hometown of Muncie, Indiana. But when he started to frequently visit the mosque to gather information about his plan, he was impressed by the kindness shown to him by the attendees and refugees present there. 

Impressed by the Muslims in the mosque, he abandoned the plan of bombing the mosque and converted to Islam instead. He is now the president of the said mosque.

“This film is a powerful true story of forgiveness and redemption,” Yousafzai said in a statement to Variety. “I hope the film challenges every viewer to question their assumptions and show kindness to everyone they meet.” She later shared on Twitter, "When I first saw this film, it opened my mind and changed my perspective. I am honoured to support Joshua Seftel's Stranger at the Gate, a powerful true story about redemption."

When I first saw this film, it opened my mind and changed my perspective. I am honoured to support @JSeftel's Stranger at the Gate, a powerful true story about redemption. Watch the Oscar shortlisted doc here: https://t.co/EViPKv3ymZ

— Malala Yousafzai (@Malala) January 16, 2023

Directed by Seftel, Stranger at the Gate is distributed by The New Yorker as part of the magazine’s New Yorker Documentary series. “At this time of division and hate, the story at the heart of ‘Stranger at the Gate’ gives me hope,” Seftel said. “The heroes in the film have inspired me to believe that love really can conquer hate.”

Watch the documentary here:

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