Battagram chairlift rescue story to hit Pakistani cinemas this year

What if your daily ride to school suddenly left you hanging 900 feet above the ground — with just one cable keeping you alive?

That’s exactly what happened to eight people in Battagram’s Allai Valley in August 2023 — a terrifying real-life rescue operation that is now being brought to the big screen.

Titled Hanging By A Wire, the documentary explores the dramatic Battagram chairlift rescue, while also highlighting the region’s underdevelopment, poor infrastructure and, most importantly, the courage of its local people.

Speaking to Geo Digital, producer, director and writer M Ali Naqvi said he wanted to take the story of these local heroes to a global audience.

“It was the first time […] local people and the administration came together to save the lives of eight people trapped in a chairlift. This is an underdeveloped area, but the skill with which the locals carried out the rescue deserves immense appreciation,” Naqvi said.

He said the documentary is also an attempt to draw attention to the children who continue to rely on chairlifts to get to school.

“We want the system to become safer for these children. Through this film, we are also trying to work with NGOs on projects that can help improve the infrastructure,” he said.

And there’s another fascinating element to the film — much of what audiences will see is original footage recorded during the actual incident.

According to Naqvi, some of the drone footage was captured by a local jewellery shop owner, Faisal, while other footage was recorded by residents who were documenting the unfolding rescue.

“They wanted their voices, their helplessness and their efforts to reach the world,” he said.

Producer and writer Bilal Sami told Geo Digital that stories about Pakistan’s unsung local heroes rarely receive international attention.

“That’s why M Ali Naqvi and I wanted to tell this story — so the world can see the people who represent the positive side of Pakistan,” he said.

The documentary has already travelled beyond Pakistan.

‘Hanging By A Wire’ is currently being screened in cinemas across the UK and US. The film also managed to make its mark at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, where it stood out among thousands of films and received appreciation from audiences.

And now, the documentary is coming home.

‘Hanging By A Wire’ is set to release in cinemas across Pakistan later this year.

But before this story reached international screens, it began with one of the most terrifying rescue operations Pakistan had ever witnessed.

On August 23, 2023, two cables of a chairlift in Battagram suddenly snapped, leaving the lift dangling from a single cable nearly 900 feet above the ground, with eight people trapped inside.

Pakistan Army personnel managed to rescue one person using a helicopter. To save the remaining seven, zipline experts Ali Swati and Sahib Khan were brought in.

After nearly 12 hours of an intense rescue operation, all eight people were eventually brought to safety.

But the story did not end with the rescue.

According to local residents, despite the massive attention the incident received, little has changed in the area’s infrastructure. Chairlifts remain a crucial mode of transport for local communities — including children travelling to school — but the system continues to be unsafe and poorly developed.

And that is the story Hanging By A Wire wants the world to see — not just the terrifying moment when eight lives were hanging by a thread, but the courage of the ordinary Pakistanis who refused to give up on them.