Pakistan Picks Doc 'Hanging By a Wire' for Oscars — SkimNews
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- Pakistan selected Mo Naqvi’s documentary Hanging By a Wire as its official entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards, the first time a documentary has represented the country in the category
- Mo Naqvi directed, wrote, and produced the film, which reconstructs the August 2023 cable car rescue in Battagram, northern Pakistan, using eyewitness footage, survivor testimony, and cinematic reconstructions
- Hanging By a Wire premiered in the World Cinema Documentary competition at Sundance and has since screened at Tribeca, Seattle International, and Sydney Film Festivals, with upcoming showings at the Bend Film Festival in Oregon
- Sahib Khan, a local cable car repairman known as a 'sky pirate,' and Ali Swati, who provided high-quality zipline equipment, were among the ad hoc rescuers featured in the film, alongside police official Sonia Shamroz who oversaw the operation
- EverWonder Studio, Universal Pictures Content Group, Mindhouse Productions, and 64th Street Media produced the film, with Dogwoof and Abramorama handling theatrical distribution in the U.K. and U.S., respectively
- Sana Zahra Jafri, deputy chair of the Pakistan Academy Selection Committee, called the selection a historic milestone for Pakistani documentary filmmaking and a showcase of an extraordinary story from northern Pakistan
Why it matters: This selection shifts Pakistan’s Oscar strategy by elevating nonfiction storytelling to the level of prestige once reserved for narrative films, recognizing grassroots resilience and local documentation as central to national cinema. For filmmakers and communities in remote regions, it validates self-recorded crisis footage as both historical evidence and cinematic material.
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