US journalist recounts past years as a prisoner in Syria

In 2012, the independent journalist Theo Padnos went to Syria to cover the civil war, but immediately was kidnapped by members of a branch of Al-Qaida.

Convinced that he was a CIA agent, because Padnos spoke Arabic, militants held him for nearly two years before she was released in August 2014.

Padnos, who originally is from Massachusetts, described his journey in the documentary titled "Theo Who Lived", which will appear on September 30 in Cambridge. Theatrical premieres will be shown in New York City on October 7 and will then be displayed in other countries.

47-year-old journalist, who has been living in Paris and Vermont, has told The Associated Press how grateful is to survive.

This ordeal has not only changed his opinion about life, but has also provided a perspective on the Syrian conflict and he feels that it is important to share with others.

Padnos is writing a book, a script and a graphic novel about his experience. He had written to his abduction in the magazine New York Times Magazine as a journalist was released and continues to write articles for this region.

"I had a real spiritual journey, for me and my family at that time was a scary thing," says Pandos.

"But when I look back and realize that this is what life has given me, I want what I have learned from this experience to return to positive benefit," he added.

Pandos show documentary in Turkey and Israel, where artistically recreated his abduction 22 months. The film team has not gone to Syria.Padnos reflects on his abduction, where the scene is recreated in tiny prison cell and the room where he was subject to torture and beatings.

Turkey-Syria border, he recalled the moment when his companions persuaded him to take running in the field and then to cross the barbed wire, to pass on the territory of Syria.

Currently Padnos says he constantly reminded for months. Three men, who claimed that supplied the Free Syrian Army, offered Padnos to cross the border with them. But, in fact, they were allies of Al-Qaida. They fabricated a false interview, beaten and held hostage, just shortly after crossing the border.

"This is the moment when my life was destroyed. It's like walking into an abyss, but I actually threw it, "says Padnos in film.

"Now I'm back in a safe place and think why they jumped?" He said.

Padnos also shows in detail a series of attempts to escape, which failed, including one story when with his cell, photographer American Matthew Schrier, who had managed to emerge from a window of the prison, but not Padnos.

The journalist's mother, Nancy Curtis, who was interviewed for the documentary, says she still has mixed emotions about the release of her son. During the time her son was being held by extremists, it had become very close with the parents of other Americans kidnapped by extremists.Many of them were not as lucky as her family, she says.

Curtis and other members of the family have worked with the government of the United States and Qatar, and successfully managed to arrange the release of Padnos, just days after militants, the beheaded US journalist James Foley. Padnos family says that their son's release have not paid before.

"I always had hope that he will return home," says Curtis. "But I do not feel joy and happiness. I believe that anyone who has been a soldier in the war and returned home there were no similar emotions, "she explains.

Director David Schisgall Padnos says history is a rare experience of life within the jihadist group to an external, in order to understand more deeply the language and culture of this region.

Having taught for years Arabic and Islam in Yemen and Syria, Padnos was able to create confidence and make friends with some of his captors. By the end of his imprisonment, he was given greater freedom and even allowed to travel personally to the most senior commander of Al-Nusra Front in Syria.

"Proximity is true that he created with his captors is impressive," says Schisgall.

"It's an important message for the Americans, who see these men who fight as complicated individuals who are dangerous but also very human," he further adds./ShikoNews