Fifteen years after 9/11, American Muslims still face an uphill battle in the national imagination. The current political climate spurred on by constant fear mongering during this election cycle, as well as the saturation of negative stereotypes that flood the news and media continue to make Muslims the target of suspicion and hostility.

Building on its work in The Secret Life of Scientists, Seftel Productions' new series, The Secret Life of Muslims, uses humor and empathy to subvert stereotypes and reveal the truth about American Muslims: fascinating careers, unexpected talents, and inspiring accomplishments, providing a counter-narrative to the rampant Islamophobia prevalent in the media.

The film features Ahmed Ahmed, Khalid Latif, Rais Bhuiyan, Linda Sarsour, Layla Shaikley, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, Dena Takruri, Reza Aslan, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Mona Haydar and Sebastian Robins, Wajahat Ali, Aman Ali, Zahra Noorbakhsh, Maz Jobrani, Omar Regan, Iqbal Theba, and Negin Farsad.

Filmmaker Joshua Seftel began his career at age 22 with the Emmy-nominated Lost and Found, a documentary film about Romania’s orphaned and abandoned children. The PBS broadcast of the film led to the American adoption of thousands of orphaned children. Seftel went on to direct the anti-war film War Inc., a political satire starring John Cusack, Ben Kingsley and Marisa Tomei, as well as the groundbreaking Emmy Award-winning television program Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Recently, he created a YouTube series consisting of candid conversations between him and his 79-year-old mother. Seftel's essays and commentaries have appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, and This American Life. He is the creator of the 2017 Peabody Award Finalist series The Secret Life of Muslims.