Following its acclaimed world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, Hanging by a Wire will open in UK cinemas on Friday 28 August 2026, bringing the extraordinary true story of Pakistan’s 2023 cable car rescue to audiences across the UK.
Directed by acclaimed Pakistani filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi (Turning Point, The Accused: Damned or Devoted?), and produced by Naqvi and Bilal Sami, the Sundance-selected documentary recounts the terrifying ordeal that unfolded in Pakistan’s remote Himalayan foothills, when a makeshift cable car left eight passengers, including six schoolboys, suspended hundreds of feet above a ravine.
With the clock ticking and the remaining cable expected to fail, a group of local rescuers launched a desperate race against time to bring the passengers home safely. What followed became a remarkable story of courage, resilience and collective humanity, as an entire community came together in an extraordinary effort to save eight lives.
Told through the voices and footage of the people who lived through the rescue, Hanging by a Wire captures the scale and tension of a real-life disaster while offering an intimate portrait of the community behind one of Pakistan’s most extraordinary rescue stories.
The film premiered on opening day at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it screened in competition for the Grand Jury Prize and played to sold-out audiences. It is produced by award-winning Mindhouse, EverWonder Studio, Universal Pictures Content Group and 64th Street Media, and distributed in the UK by Dogwoof.
Mohammed Ali Naqvi, Director, Producer and Co-writer, said:
“This film is a tribute to the ordinary people who became extraordinary when it mattered most. To have Dogwoof bring Hanging by a Wire to UK cinemas means audiences will experience it the way we intended – together, in the dark, holding their breath as a real-life disaster thriller unfolds through the voices and footage of the people who lived it.“
Hanging by a Wire opens in UK cinemas on Friday 28 August 2026.
