Reporting snapshot · 2 October 2026. The Pakistan Academy Selection Committee has selected Mohammed Ali Naqvi's documentary "Hanging by a Wire" as Pakistan's official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, the first time the country has put forward a nonfiction film for the slot. The selection was announced on 1 October during the premiere of the film at the Mosaic International Film Festival (MISAFF) in Canada. The film reopens the August 2023 Battagram cable car rescue in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is the latest in Naqvi's long line of internationally recognised Pakistan-set documentaries. This account draws on Geo News, the Express Tribune and the September 2022 Geo News preview of the film's Pakistani theatrical release. It is a dated snapshot of the selection as announced on 1 October 2026; any later Academy shortlisting, Pakistani Academy vote, or theatrical-release update is not captured here.
What the committee announced
Pakistan has selected Mo Naqvi’s documentary thriller “Hanging by a Wire” as its official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, The Express Tribune reported on 2 October 2026, citing the Pakistan Academy Selection Committee (PASC). Geo News reported the same announcement on 2 October, framing it as the first time Pakistan has chosen a documentary for the slot. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 2027 in Hollywood, after the Academy’s standard shortlisting and nomination stages in late 2026 and early 2027.
The Express Tribune said the announcement was made on 1 October during the film’s premiere at the Mosaic International Film Festival (MISAFF) in Canada, by PASC Deputy Chairperson Sana Zahra Jafri. The Pakistani theatrical release of the film is yet to be dated, the Geo News report said.
Naqvi told Deadline, via the Express Tribune, that the film is “a straight-up disaster film, except it really happened, and you’re watching real footage of it unfolding live”. The Express Tribune and Geo News both quote Naqvi as saying that “the community on the ground filmed it themselves and trusted me with that footage, so in a real sense they co-authored this film with me”.
Why this is a first for Pakistan
Pakistan has submitted a film for the International Feature Film category most years since 1959, when “Jago Hua Savera” was the country’s first entry, but the Express Tribune and Geo News both stress that “Halling by a Wire” is the first documentary to be put forward. Pakistan’s most recent previous submissions include the live-action drama “The Glassworker” (2024), Zarrar Kahn’s “In Flames” (2023), and Saim Sadiq’s “Joyland” (2022), according to the list of Pakistani submissions on Wikipedia, a public reference record rather than an editorial citation.
Jafri called the selection “a historic milestone for Pakistani documentary filmmaking” that “brings an extraordinary story from northern Pakistan to the International Feature Film Oscar race”, the Express Tribune reported.
For the 2026 cycle, Naqvi stepped aside as PASC chair to submit his own film, Geo News said. Jafri headed the committee and its other members included actors Marina Khan and Hina Bayat, artist Misha Japanwala, director Nabeel Qureshi, actress Tamkenat Mansoor, director-producer Shahzad Rafique and producer Badar Ikram, Geo News reported.
What the film is about
“Hanging by a Wire” reopens the August 2023 cable car emergency in Battagram, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when six children and two adults were left stranded above a ravine after one cable of a chair-lift snapped. The Express Tribune and Geo News both describe the film as a non-fiction reconstruction that combines eyewitness footage, survivors’ testimonies and cinematic reconstructions featuring the rescue participants.
Geo News’ September 2026 piece on the film’s planned theatrical release identified the title as Naqvi’s “Battagram chairlift rescue story”. The original incident drew national and international attention in August 2023, with BBC News reporting that all eight passengers were rescued after a roughly 15-hour effort that combined Pakistan Army helicopters and a zipline rescue by Muhammad Ali Swati. The film’s English-, Urdu- and Pashtu-language dialogue places the rescue inside the Allai Valley community that produced the original footage.
The Express Tribune and Geo News credit “Hanging by a Wire” to EverWonder Studio, Universal Pictures Content Group, Mindhouse Productions and 64th Street Media, and identify Naqvi and Bilal Sami as writer-producers and Naqvi as director.
Naqvi’s track record with the Academy and Pakistani cinema
Naqvi’s selection comes after several years inside the Pakistan Academy Selection Committee. He was appointed PASC chairperson in 2023, taking over from director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and led the jury that put forward “In Flames” for the 95th Academy Awards. He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Express Tribune and Geo News say, having been inducted in 2022.
Naqvi’s earlier documentaries include “Among the Believers” (2015), co-directed with Hemal Trivedi and centred on the Red Mosque network, and “The Accused: Damned or Devoted?” (2020), about the rise of cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi and the blasphemy-law debate. Both films collected multiple international festival and rights-award honours, and “Among the Believers” was banned in Pakistan in 2016. Naqvi also co-executive-produced the Netflix docuseries “Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror” and its 2024 sequel “Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War”.
What is still uncertain
Three items are open. First, the Academy’s eligibility review for the 99th International Feature Film race has not yet been published; submissions are typically confirmed by the Academy in late autumn. Second, the Pakistani theatrical release date for “Hanging by a Wire” remains undated in the Geo Express account, although the film’s September 2022 announcement said it would hit Pakistani cinemas “this year”. Third, whether the Allai Valley setting gives the film a distinct platform advantage over Pakistan’s recent drama-led entries is a matter the festival-circuit reception, rather than the PASC, will judge. Naqvi’s own framing in the Deadline quote — that the film is “a disaster film, except it really happened” — is the pitch the international shortlisters will weigh alongside the documentary craft.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published reporting, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 2 October 2026.
- Primary source — The Express Tribune: Mo Naqvi's 'Hanging By a Wire' selected as Pakistan's entry for Oscars international feature race2 October 2026 · Carries the PASC announcement, Sana Zahra Jafri's quote, Naqvi's Deadline quote, and the production-company credits; identified as the primary record for the selection as published by a Pakistan-recognised outlet.
- Independent source — Geo News: 'Hanging by a Wire' selected as Pakistan's first documentary Oscar submission2 October 2026 · Independent Pakistan-recognised outlet confirming the selection, the Battagram cable-car subject matter, Naqvi's PASC chairmanship handover and the full PASC member list.
- Independent source — BBC News: Pakistan cable car: All safe following precarious residence22 August 2023 · National newspaper of record; the contemporaneous account of the August 2023 Battagram cable car rescue that the documentary reconstructs.
- Independent source — Geo News: Battagram chairlift rescue story to hit Pakistani cinemas this year2 September 2026 · Pakistan-recognised outlet previewing the film itself, the Allai Valley setting and Naqvi's earlier work, used to verify the documentary's subject and timeline.
