( CNN ) -- For 460 days , they held her captive . They beat her , sexually assaulted her , kept her locked in a pitch-black room with chains around her ankles . And yet , Amanda Lindhout says she forgives her abductors . `` When one human can create suffering or another , it always comes from a place of their own suffering , '' she says . And the men who took her hostage -- some no more than 14 years old -- had endured a `` great deal of suffering '' in their own lives , she says . Lindhout , a Canadian freelance journalist , was 27 when she arrived in Mogadishu , Somalia , in August 2008 . Three days in , she and her crew were ambushed in their car by young men brandishing AK-47s . They took Lindhout , her photographer Nigel Brennan , their drivers and fixer . The drivers and fixer that had accompanied Lindhout were released after a few months . She and her photojournalist Nigel Brennan were held for a total of 15 . Lindhout 's story of survival , detailed in a book last year , has now been picked up by a Hollywood studio for a movie starring Academy Award nominated actress Rooney Mara . `` I spent 460 days in captivity , '' Amanda told CNN . Fungus grew on her skin . Her hair fell out in clumps . She had abcessed teeth . A sobbing call to Omni TV during her captivity showed her desperation . `` I do n't want to die here and I 'm afraid I 'll die of a disease if I do n't get help soon , '' she said in the call . Lindhout and Brennan were released in November 2009 after their families paid a $ 600,000 ransom . In her story of survival , `` A House In The Sky , '' Lindhout talked about the courage it took to survive . `` I really discovered the strength of the human spirit that is alive in all of us , '' she said . Lindhout 's harrowing story prompted Mara to spend a weekend with her . Now Mara , best known for her work in `` The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo '' and `` Side Effects , '' Mara plans to star in a film optioned by Annapurna Pictures -- the production company behind blockbusters , such as `` Zero Dark Thirty '' and `` American Hustle . '' Lindhout is working to change the country where she once lost her freedom . Shortly after her release , she began an organization to empower women and children in Somalia . The Global Enrichment Foundation ( GEF ) provides development for Somalis through education , medical care and food aid . Lindhout says the organization is working to change the environment the children of Somalia grow up in , so that the cycle of violence ends . Somalia is one of the poorest nations on the planet , and often touted as `` the most dangerous country in the world . '' The foundation 's goal , Lindhout says , is to bring growth -- and peace .
Lindhout was abducted three days after arriving in Somalia . She was released after her family paid ransom . The makers of `` Zero Dark Thirty '' plans to make a movie of her experience .