Theo Who Lived

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Theo Who Lived

2016

1h 26m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

40%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

In the late fall of 2012, Theo Padnos, a struggling American journalist, slipped into Syria to report on the country's civil war and was promptly kidnapped by Al Qaeda's branch in Syria. Because he spoke fluent Arabic, his captors suspected he worked for the CIA and, for months, brutally tortured him during interrogation sessions. But his fluency, coupled with his remarkable personal expansiveness, also led to an extraordinary engagement with, and understanding of, his captors.

G. Allen Johnson

San Francisco Chronicle

12/15/2016

2/4

Basically we have an 86-minute documentary that's virtually a monologue by Padnos of his experiences.

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John DeFore

The Hollywood Reporter

11/04/2016

Though no apologist for the Al Qaeda faction that kidnapped him in Syria in 2012, Padnos's rueful and sympathetic storytelling exhibits the kind of cultural understanding that drew him to the region in the first place.

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Sheri Linden

Los Angeles Times

10/21/2016

Schisgall's interviews with her enrich the portrait of Padnos, but it's the journo's open gaze and natural inquisitiveness, his refusal to merely demonize his abusers, that give the film its discomforting power.

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Erin Blackwell

Bay Area Reporter

06/09/2020

David Schisgall has directed this film with grace and eloquence, letting Theo tell it his way, in a site-specific reenactment that is itself a bit adventurous.

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Julia Raban

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

08/21/2017

[Theo] Padnos is sometimes calm and philosophical, sometimes impassioned and enraged.

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Sherilyn Connelly

SF Weekly

12/15/2016

Fitfully interesting.

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09/05/2020

Not only does Theo retell his story with such animated detail, he is articulate, socially intelligent and incredibly mentally strong and this is what ultimately saved him in my opinion. I think he is brilliant and he has an amazing story to tell. If you want to know what it's really like over there, then you must check out this documentary. I'm going to watch it again ❤️❤️❤️

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David Schisgall

Director

Theo Padnos

Actor

David Schisgall

Writer

Amanda Branson Gill

Producer

Evgenia Peretz

Executive Producer

Dan Cogan

Executive Producer

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Synopsis

In the late fall of 2012, Theo Padnos, a struggling American journalist, slipped into Syria to report on the country's civil war and was promptly kidnapped by Al Qaeda's branch in Syria. Because he spoke fluent Arabic, his captors suspected he worked for the CIA and, for months, brutally tortured him during interrogation sessions. But his fluency, coupled with his remarkable personal expansiveness, also led to an extraordinary engagement with, and understanding of, his captors.

Director: David Schisgall
Producer: Amanda Branson Gill
Screenwriter: David Schisgall
Distributor: Zeitgeist Films
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 7, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $11.3K
Runtime: 1h 26m

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