In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the family of filmmaker Mohammed Naqvi belonged to a Muslim minority that suffered discrimination and persecution. Corrupt or incompetent presidents of the republic consistently failed to protect them. But then in 1999, the secular general Pervez Musharraf seized power, and went on to rule as a dictator for eight years. It was a period in which, for the first time in his life, Naqvi felt safe in his own country. With the support of the West, Musharraf endeavored to prevent post-9/11 Pakistan from becoming a "terrorist state." When Naqvi came to vote in a democratic election for the first time, he faced a dilemma: should he vote for a corrupt politician, a religious fanatic who supported the Taliban, or for a general who came to power undemocratically in 1999?

A routine school commute turns terrifying when a cable car’s wire snaps, leaving eight passengers — including six schoolboys — dangling 900 feet above a ravine in the remote Himalayan foothills. With 10 hours before the remaining cable is expected to fail, a group of rescuers races to save them. With a startling sense of immediacy, Hanging by a Wire transports viewers to rural Battagram, in northern Pakistan, to witness this harrowing scene unfold, which quickly becomes international news. With the clock ticking and pressure mounting, regional authorities, army commandos, and courageous local community members undertake dramatic risks to save the cable car passengers. Fault lines around class emerge in the process, begging the question of whose knowledge and expertise is valued and whose is instead dismissed, as well as why proper transportation infrastructure is lacking in these remote areas. Drawing from up-close drone footage, on-the-ground recordings from the assembled community of onlookers, and skillful reenactments featuring actual participants from the incident, director Mohammed Ali Naqvi constructs a riveting, unforgettable documentary thriller. — BT