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

Available in person. Also available online for the public (January 29–February 1) and credentialed press and industry (January 28–February 1).