Journalist Lives To Tell Harrowing Story of His Kidnapping in New Film

FEATURING THEO PADNOS AND DAVID SCHISGALL – The track record of surviving a kidnapping in a war zone is not very good. When American journalists or aid workers are captured by militant groups in countries like Pakistan or Iraq, they often die, especially because the US government’s policy is to not negotiate or pay ransom. But once in a while kidnap victims manage to escape or be freed and live to tell about it. Theo Padnos is one such man. In 2012 he was in Syria working on a story about refugees when he was kidnapped by men who he thought were with the Free Syrian Army. Padnos realized he was in the custody of the Al Qaeda group in Syria. The next, nearly 2 years of his life, were spent in various conditions of horrific imprisonment and torture. Amazingly Theo Padnos lived to tell his story. A new and powerful documentary simply called Theo Who Lived, directed by David Schisgall, reenacts the stages of his captivity, and the parallel struggle of his Vermont-based mother who worked to get him freed. Theo Who Lived is opening in theaters around the country.

Find more about the movie at www.TheoWhoLived.com.

Theo Padnos, American journalist who survived 22 months in captivity in Syria, David Schisgall, Director of Theo Who Lived.