Pakistan has made its yearly submission to the Oscars for International Feature. However, it’s the first time that a documentary has been submitted for this category.
“Hanging by a Wire” is a documentary feature directed by Mohammed Ali Naqvi that details the heroic rescue of eight cable car passengers that were quite literally hanging by a wire in Battagram in August 2023.
What is “Hanging by a Wire” About?
The film uses footage recorded by witnesses, eyewitness testimony from survivors and staged reenactments to put audiences right in the middle of the daring rescue 900 feet above a ravine.
The rescue included 6 schoolboys who were on their way to school and 2 other passengers. The rescue happened over the course of a single day and included the use of a helicopter and two zipline experts.
While Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy had previously won Oscars for Documentary Short Subject in 2012 and 2016, this is Pakistan’s first documentary feature submission for the International Feature category.
Who is Director Mohammed Ali Naqvi?
Director Mohammed Ali Naqvi is known for his hard hitting documentaries about Pakistan and the Muslim world in general including Shame (about the assault on Mukhtaran Mai), Among the Believers (about the network of radical madrassas in Pakistan as well as the Laal Masjid incident), and Pakistan’s Hidden Shame (about the prevalence of child sexual abuse in Pakistan).
Is Hanging by a Wire Eligible for the Oscars?
Hanging by a Wire has played at the several film festivals this year including Sundance, the World Cinema Documentary lineup and the Tribeca Film Festival. The film is even set to premiere on the streaming service Paramount+ on October 28th.
However, the film still doesn’t meet a very crucial requirement for an Oscar nomination. To be nominated in the International Feature category, a film has to run for at least 7 consecutive days in commercial cinemas in its own country.
Hanging by a Wire doesn’t even have a local release date yet. If it doesn’t meet this requirement, the nomination won’t go through on a technicality.
This has happened before. In 2025, the Burushaski language film “Hun Dan” about a folk tale of the Burusho people from Gilgit-Baltistan, was sent to the Oscars. However, incomplete documentation stopped it from qualifying.
Hanging by a Wire has a critic’s score of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes which mostly includes international critics. With press like this, there may be a chance that Pakistan can finally get a nomination at the Oscars. However, it still has to run in Pakistani cinemas to qualify.
