Hanging by a Wire (Urdu: ہینگنگ بائی اے وائر) is a 2026 documentary film directed by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, co-written with Bilal Sami. A co-production of the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and the United States, it details the August 2023 rescue in Pakistan of eight passengers of a cable car that was dangling 900 feet above a ravine after two of its three cables snapped.
The film had its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on 22 January. It was also selected as the Pakistani entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards, marking the first documentary selected to represent the country in the category.
Release Hanging by a Wire premiered in World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on 22 January. It was screened on 10 May 2026, at the 2026 Seattle International Film Festival in Documentary features.
The film was also part of the 73rd Sydney Film Festival International Documentaries, where it was screened on 6 June 2026.
Reception
Critical response On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 23 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Accolades Award / Film FestivalYearCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.Sundance Film Festival 26 January 2026Grand Jury Prize - World Cinema DocumentaryHanging by a Wire Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival (MISAFF) 4 October 2026 Sabeen Mahmud Award for Courage in Cinema
See also List of submissions to the 99th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film List of Pakistani submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
External links