Sean Langan
Sean Langan is a British journalist, documentary filmmaker, BAFTA nominee – and kidnap survivor. Armed with only a camera, Sean has worked in volatile situations, in environments noted for war, conflict and civil unrest, from Latin America to Iraq to Zimbabwe.
Sean’s award-winning films include Mission Accomplished: Langan in Iraq (2004), Afghan Ladies Driving School (2006) and Fighting the Taliban (2007). In March 2008, whilst working on a film for Channel 4, Sean was kidnapped in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region by a group associated with the Taliban. He was freed three months later, unharmed, after his family negotiated his release.
Toby Young, writing in the Telegraph soon afterwards, said: “He is a real charmer, something that undoubtedly helped him get through this ordeal…he had done everything in his power to win over his captors, knowing that his fate could turn on whether they took a liking to him or not.” Wryly comparing his experience with I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!, Sean wrote in the Guardian: “thankfully, the Taliban never tortured me in the same way Nicola (McLean) was tortured by Timmy Mallett.”
The Telegraph’s Mick Brown will be interviewing Sean at the festival this year.
“Sean Langan is a film-maker who’s often managed to go where other film-makers fear to, or are unable to, tread. In Langan in Iraq he was one of the first filmmakers to document the Iraqi insurgency, and in Tea With the Taliban he got the first TV interviews with the Taliban. Fighting the Taliban saw him get a very rare embed with British forces in Afghanistan.”
– Intelligent Factual Festival
Links:
- Sean Langan article in The Guardian
- Watch: Channel 4 News meets Sean Langan
Video:
Sean Langan: Meeting the Taliban (Part 1 of 5):
