A still from Hanging by a Wire by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute.)

“Hanging by a Wire,” a 77‑minute documentary by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, follows the terrifying ordeal of eight passengers—six of them teenagers—left suspended in a cable car after one of two supporting cables snapped. What began as an ordinary school commute across the mountains of northern Pakistan on the morning of August 22, 2023, became a day-long fight for survival. The boys were left dangling 900 feet in the air, 5,250 feet from their destination, with the world watching and praying that rescue crews could reach them in time.

Like other disaster documentaries involving trapped miners or the Thai boys’ cave rescue, this story carries the same desperate plea: “Tell the world we want help.” What unfolds is a series of competing rescue attempts—some heroic, some chaotic, and all marked by the urgency of lives literally hanging in the balance.

SKY PIRATE

The first rescuer to reach the site was Sahib Khan, a self-styled “sky pirate,” who arrived around eleven in the morning. He successfully rescued one boy before being ordered to stop. As he explains it, “After I rescued the boy, I got a call telling me to shut the operation down.” Sahib was disturbed by this and said the reason was “ because I am poor.” Despite that, he later shares that people in Pakistan now recognize him and thank him for his bravery.

HELICOPTER RESCUE

Sonia Shamroz Khan, the district police commander, called in an experienced helicopter pilot, Lt. Col. Zain Ali, after four and a half hours. One of the boys, Irfan, was the only passenger eventually lifted out by helicopter. Unable to secure the harness that was passed down to him, he held onto the rope with his hands alone. Before attempting it, he told his father, “Dad, whether I live or die today, I’m going to jump.”Irfan’s father said, “When they told me he had made it to the helicopter, that’s when I opened my eyes.” A second helicopter arrived later, but the downdraft from the rotors violently shook the cable car, nearly flipping it.  Another boy, Niaz, told his father, “I might die today.” Once rescued, Niaz said simply, “There was pure joy when my feet finally hit the ground.”

A still from Hanging by a Wire by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute.)

ZIP-LINE RESCUE

Next came Ali Swati, a gym owner and zip‑line operator whose father once scolded him for not joining the Army. Determined to redeem himself in his family’s eyes and save the boys, he made a dangerous attempt shortly after dark. Ali was selected as the third rescuer because of his experience with his zip-line business, money and the equipment he already possessed.

The initial efforts by Ali were challenging. The wire shook under his weight; the car shook. Terrified, the boys screamed, “Why do you want to kill us? Why are you putting more weight on the cable car?” Tensions flared between Swati and the sky pirate perched on top of the car, but ultimately the priority became getting the boys out alive.

RESCUE TIME-LINE

A real‑time timeline heightens the film’s tension. Brendan McGinty’s aerial cinematography captures both the beauty and danger of the remote terrain and there was ample film footage of the crisis taken that day, which is used.

The boys were eventually saved, but their trauma lingers. One says, “We feel like we’ve been given a second chance to live.”  Rizwan shared that he still relives the incident in nightmares and added, “I still feel scared whever I pass by the cable car.” Irfan continues to avoid the site, saying “There is a fear in my heart.”

Most remarkably, the ruined cable car still remains suspended  from the damaged cable today, a grim monument to the day eight lives were left hanging by a wire.