Angela Madsen’s life reads like a parable of resilience; beginning with the 
backstory of her childhood as a closeted gay 
woman, to a botched surgery during her time in the Marine Corps that left her paralyzed and homeless, to her remarkable rise to adaptive sports superstar as a three-time Paralympian and fourteen-time Guinness World Record holder, and finally to her attempt to row 
across the Pacific Ocean alone. ROW OF LIFE focuses on Angela’s incredible story and bond to her life partner, Deb, as they prepare for her final ocean crossing. In April 2020, Angela set off solo and unassisted in her 20’ ocean rowing boat, Row of Life, affixed with everything needed to be self-reliant for 100 days, across 2,500 miles of open ocean, from Los Angeles to Hawaii. ROW OF LIFE is a 
documentary about a promise made and ultimately kept, of what love does beyond the limitations of death,
and how even when an ending is radically different than what was expected, it offers us unique lessons of resilience, grit, hope, and determination against all odds. Director Soraya Simi (Get Lifted) joins us for a conversation on getting to know Angela, Deb and her supporter and how this experience has impacted her own life, as well as the experience of working with Sue Bird, Tina Tozzi, Jess Robertson, Loren Hammonds, Amanda Alpert Muscat, Nicolas Weissman, and Jaime Chew.
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About the subject – Angela Madsen was an American Paralympian sportswoman in both rowing and track and field. In a long career, Madsen moved from race rowing to ocean challenges before switching in 2011 to athletics, winning a bronze medal in the shot put at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Madsen and teammate Helen Taylor were the first women to row across the Indian Ocean.
About the filmmaker – Soraya Simi is an award-winning independent filmmaker, published writer, and entrepreneur. Her strength lies in Directing, Producing, and Writing for film and television, with extensive experience in commercial work. Immediately graduating from USC Film School, Soraya embarked on her first feature documentary, ROW OF LIFE, which follows the story of Paralympian and Marine Veteran Angela Madsen and her harrowing solo row across the Pacific Ocean. It is Executive Produced by Sue Bird and co-produced with TOGETHXR and TIME Studios and is released in early 2025. Her next project is a true crime docu-series about a wrongful conviction based in her hometown, Tucson, for which she is both a Co-Director and Executive Producer. It is Executive Produced by John Legend, co-produced with GET LIFTED, and currently in production. Soraya also runs a local membership-based organization in the Central Coast, 805 Film Collective, which offers events, jobs, and resources to the thriving local film community to help generate high-quality local film work. She is a published writer, with long-form essays in OUTSIDE magazine, The Sun, a plethora of surf and adventure publications, and is currently writing her first novel.
SOCIAL MEDIA
facebook.com/filmindependent
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instagram.com/soraya.simi
instagram.com/rowoflife
Reviews:
“Angela Madsen’s journey is full of inspiration, love, and greatness while overcoming extreme challenges.” – Jason Delgado, Film Threat