ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Pakistan’s Academy Selection Committee has selected the documentary film “Hanging by a Wire” to represent the country in the Best International Feature category at the Academy Awards (Oscars).
This is the first time that a documentary film has been selected to represent Pakistan at the Academy Awards. The film was written, produced, and directed by Muhammad Ali ‘Mo’ Naqvi’s along with Bilal Sami.
Hanging by a Wire focuses on the story of the cable car accident, which took place in August 2023 in Battagram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The incident involved eight people, including six children of varying ages, getting stuck on a local cable car 900 feet above a river, flowing rapidly below.
The passengers were trapped in the cable car in the morning, and the rescue operation to extract them continued till late at night.
Initially, a rescue attempt was made by helicopter, as a result of which only 2 children could be saved. Later, rescuers safely pulled out the remaining people in the cable car one-by-one late into the night, thus saving all 8 passengers.
The cable car was the only way for children in the area to cross the Jhangri River because there were no roads or bridges.
Pakistan’s Oscar journey
The country first submitted a film in the category in 1959 and did not receive a nomination with any of its 13 entries so far.
Pakistan’s most notable breakthrough so far came in 2022, when Saim Sadiq’s film ‘Joyland’ managed to make it to the shortlist of Oscar nominations.
Hanging by a War is a joint production of teams from Pakistan, the US, and the UK, while Hollywood giant Universe Pictures Content Group was also involved in the production process of the film.
The film has also had a successful run at international film festivals, with its world premiere on the first day of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and it was also screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in Sydney, Seattle and New York.
