Pakistani documentary about the Battagram rescue, Hanging by a Wire, is going to premiere on the opening day of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in August.
The Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the United States, held annually to showcase new work from American and international independent filmmakers.
In 2025, the documentary’s exclusive footage was showcased during Cannes Docs Week, part of the prestigious Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival.
Pakistani filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi directed the documentary.
Naqvi was the first Pakistani to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy in the Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking category in 2023 for The Accused: Damned or Devoted?, and the first to receive the prestigious Television Academy Honour, which he was awarded in 2008 for his Showtime film Shame.
Back in Aug 2023, eight people, including six schoolchildren, were stranded for 14 hours in a makeshift cable car in Battagram, KP.
It was a journey they took daily on the way to their schools and shops.
Military helicopters later arrived at the scene, and after 14 hours, all the passengers were rescued. While the army led the rescue operation, residents also played a vital role by assisting on the ground.
