Pakistan picks cable-car rescue documentary for 2027 Oscars
Pakistan has picked Hanging by a Wire as its entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2027 Oscars, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Oct. 5.
The film is a documentary by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, also credited as Mo Naqvi. It revisits a cable car emergency in August 2023 in Battagram in northern Pakistan.
Six children. One snapped cable. The incident left six schoolboys on their way to school suspended roughly 900 feet above a ravine after a cable broke. The rescue effort was followed on live television across Pakistan and around the world.
Naqvi wrote and produced the film with Bilal Sami. Described as a documentary thriller, it combines eyewitness footage and survivor testimony with cinematic reconstructions involving rescue workers. It premiered at Sundance, the US festival in Utah that acts as a major market for independent film.
The choice was organised by the Pakistan Academy Selection Committee, according to Variety. It is Pakistan's first documentary submitted for the international feature Oscar, the Academy's category for feature films made outside the United States, largely in a language other than English, Dawn reported.
The producers are EverWonder Studio, Universal Pictures Content Group, Mindhouse Productions and 64th Street Media. Dogwoof is handling the theatre release in the U.K. Abramorama will release the film in the U.S.
Streaming comes next. Hanging by a Wire is set for release on Paramount+ on Oct. 28, 2026.
What makes this stand out is the speed of the journey. A live news event from 2023 has moved through a festival premiere into an awards race and a Halloween-season streaming slot within weeks of each other.
