NEW RELEASE: The Cure for Hate
“Tony McAleer’s warning is also a call for compassion — and a cry for all of us to recognize the urgency of the terrible danger posed by antisemitism, Islamophobia, and racial hate around the world.”
— Melani McAlister, Professor, George Washington University
The Cure for Hate, our new release from award-winning filmmaker Peter Hutchison, documents the profound journey of atonement taken by Tony McAleer, a one-time white-supremacist skinhead and Holocaust denier. The film follows McAleer as he travels to the former Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau to explore the conditions that allowed for the rise of fascism in 1930s Europe. Along the way, the film also offers deeply human insights into how men get into, and out of, violent extremist groups, and forces us to confront the dangers of allowing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of white-nationalist hate to go unchecked and unchallenged today. At a time when polarization, racial scapegoating, and far-right political violence are on the rise in the U.S. and around the world, The Cure For Hate reminds us that transformation and healing are always possible.
“This powerful documentary points insistently towards our own present, with the rapid rise of the extreme right in the US and Europe raising the specter of history repeating itself. Tony McAleer’s warning is also a call for compassion — and a cry for all of us to recognize the urgency of the terrible danger posed by antisemitism, Islamophobia, and racial hate around the world.”
— Melani McAlister, Professor, American Studies and International Affairs, George Washington University
“This film is so powerful… [Tony McAleer’s] journey to bear witness, interspersed with his personal story, is incredible.”
— June Morris, Board of Directors, National Council for Social Studies
“I can’t stress this enough, this film is something special and is not something you have ever experienced before. This film will move you…one of the best I’ve seen in 2023.”
— Steve Kopian, Unseen Films
“It’s documentaries like this one that must keep the memory of the horrors of genocide over ideology alive today, or dare we repeat the past.”
— Alan Ng, Film Threat
“A riveting and deeply important film.”
— Kathryn Spitz Cohan, Film Pittsburgh
“In today’s environment, with increasing division and othering, programs like [this] are more essential than ever. […] The program’s focus on addressing the roots of hatred and violence speaks directly to the needs of our community and, we believe, many others across the nation.”
— Jess Westhoff, Education Programs Manager, Wassmuth Center for Human Rights
“The Cure for Hate provides avenues to process in a clear, apolitical and meaningful way. Against the backdrop of today’s current events, that is not easy to do. Though it’s been several months, the impact of The Cure for Hate lingers in Brattleboro, VT. I am still hearing from teachers and students how grateful they were for the experience.”
— Susan Healy, Administrative Director, Windham World Affairs Council
“The timely message that The Cure For Hate promotes needs to be heard by everyone. Why? Because those who want to make a positive impact in their community will feel supported and motivated to continue their good work, and those who are going down the path of hatred and bigotry will be challenged to confront their own views.”
— Rabbi Beth Jacowitz Chottiner, Temple Shalom, Louisville, KY
