Pakistan’s Academy Selection Committee has selected filmmaker Mohammad Ali Naqvi’s documentary Hanging by a Wire to represent Pakistan in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2027 Academy Awards, according to the supplied report.
The announcement was made by Pakistan Academy Selection Committee Deputy Chairperson Sana Zahra Jafri during the film’s premiere at the Mosaic International Film Festival in Canada.
The selection marks the first time Pakistan has chosen a documentary to represent the country in the Academy Awards’ international feature film category, according to the report.
Hanging by a Wire tells the story of the August 2023 Battagram cable car incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when eight people, including six schoolchildren, became trapped in a cable car approximately 600 feet above the Jhangri River.
During the rescue operation, Pakistan Army personnel evacuated one person by helicopter, while zipline experts Ali Swati and Sahib Khan assisted in rescuing the remaining passengers. After an operation lasting around 12 hours, all eight people were brought to safety.
Naqvi wrote and directed the documentary, while Bilal Sami served as producer. The film incorporates eyewitness footage, accounts from survivors and cinematic recreations of the incident.
The documentary had its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition and was later screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. Its Pakistani release is expected this year, although a final release date has not yet been announced.