For 14 hours on August 22, 2023, everyone in Pakistan was anxiously glued to their TV screens as eight people — including six schoolchildren — were left dangling above a river in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram.
Now, filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi is bringing the story of the daring rescue operation to the big screen with his documentary Hanging by a Wire. The film is set to screen across North America from August 28 and in the UK later this year.
Hanging by a Wire is produced jointly by teams from Pakistan, the US and the UK, with industry giant Universal Pictures Content Group being part of the process. The film has had a highly successful festival run, premiering on the first day of this year’s Sundance film festival and playing in Sydney, Seattle and at the Tribeca Festival in New York.
“To me, this film is a statement about what Pakistani cinema can be. A story from our mountains, told by our own people, can be a full-blooded action thriller — it can open Sundance, play the world’s biggest festivals, and be backed by a major Hollywood studio,” Naqvi said, according to a press release.
He said Pakistan’s stories didn’t “have to be small or solemn to matter” and that he hoped his film “opens doors for many more to come”.
