Pakistan has selected Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s documentary Hanging by a Wire as its official entry for the 2027 Academy Awards.
The film will represent Pakistan in the Best International Feature Film category. It also marks the first time Pakistan has selected a documentary for this Oscar category.
The documentary revisits the dramatic August 2023 Battagram cable car incident. Eight passengers, including six schoolboys, became trapped high above a ravine after a cable car malfunctioned.
What Is ‘Hanging by a Wire’ About?
Hanging by a Wire focuses on the tense rescue operation that followed the Battagram cable car incident.
The passengers were suspended hundreds of feet above the ground as rescuers worked against time. Local community members, officials and other rescuers became involved in efforts to bring them to safety.
The documentary combines footage from the incident with interviews, on-the-ground recordings and cinematic reconstructions. It presents the rescue as a race against time while examining the challenges faced by the remote community.
The film was directed by Mohammed Ali Naqvi. Naqvi also wrote and produced the documentary alongside Bilal Sami.
The project is a US, UK and Pakistan production. Universal Pictures Content Group is among its production partners.
From Battagram to International Film Festivals
The documentary has already reached international audiences through several major film festivals.
It premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. The film later screened at the Tribeca Film Festival as part of its documentary programme.
The film has also been screened at the Sydney Film Festival. Its festival journey has helped bring the Battagram rescue story to audiences outside Pakistan.
Its selection for Pakistan’s Oscar entry now gives the story another international platform.
Pakistan’s Oscar Journey
Pakistan first submitted a film for the Academy Awards’ international category in 1959.
However, none of the country’s 13 previous submissions secured an Oscar nomination. Pakistan’s most notable recent progress came with Joyland, directed by Saim Sadiq.
The film made the Academy’s shortlist in 2022, marking a significant moment for Pakistan’s Oscar campaign.
This year’s selection creates another milestone because Hanging by a Wire is the country’s first documentary entry in the category.
A Pakistani Story Reaches the Global Stage
The Battagram incident became widely known after footage of the stranded passengers circulated during the rescue operation.
The documentary now retells that event through the experiences of the people involved and the community surrounding them.
For Naqvi, the project provides an opportunity to bring a Pakistani story before an international audience. The film’s selection also places a real-life rescue story from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the centre of Pakistan’s 2027 Oscar campaign.
Pakistan’s entry will now compete in the Best International Feature Film race alongside submissions from other countries. The selection marks another step in the country’s continuing effort to gain recognition at the Academy Awards.
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