SHORT #13
OF 15
95TH ACADEMY AWARDS | 2023 OSCARS CHALLENGE
“STRANGER AT THE GATE”
MARCH 11, 2023
YOUTUBE
DAY 47
OF 48
Best Documentary Short Film
Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
“Stranger At The Gate” takes an honest and terrifying look at not only what war can do to a person who fights in it but also the power of simple acts and how they can save lives. The short documentary centers on a group of people from a mosque in small-town America and the U.S. Marine that almost blew them up with a bomb.
Trained to hate Muslims, the Marine returns from war and wants to do more for his country, which he believes is taking out a couple of dozen Muslims at a mosque. But what he experiences when he enters the mosque is enough to change his mind. Interviewing the would-be bomber’s family, who throw around terms like “mass murderer,” the whole premise is a “what could have been” scenario that thankfully has a happy ending.
The entire exercise comes off as warped and bleak. The people who should be frightened and outraged embrace the man who would have killed them. Yes, it shows the power of forgiveness and the ability to overcome racism and hate, but there’s still something unnatural about these people suddenly smiling and laughing together.
PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS
Joshua Seftel
| First-time nominee |
Conall Jones
| First-time nominee |
A U.S. Marine plots a terrorist attack on a small-town American mosque, but his plan takes an unexpected turn when he comes face-to-face with the people he is about to kill.
Directed by Joshua Seftel
The New Yorker Studios
June 11, 2022
29 minutes
ACCOLADES
Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards — Best Short Documentary (Nominee)
Indy Shorts International Film Festival — Documentary [Winner]
Tribeca Film Festival — Best Documentary Short [Winner]
Virginia Film Festival — Documentary Short [Winner]
EXPERT PREDICTIONS
1. “The Elephant Whisperers”
2.“How Do You Measure a Year?”
3. “Stranger at the Gate”
4. “The Martha Mitchell Effect”
5. “Haulout”
PERSONAL PREDICTIONS
1. “The Elephant Whisperers”
2. “Haulout”
3. “Stranger at the Gate”
4. “The Martha Mitchell Effect”
5. “How Do You Measure a Year?”
