Hull Independent Cinema: Hanging by a Wire

Reel Cinema is showing Hanging by a Wire on Wednesday 11 November, as part of the Hull Independent Cinema cycle. It's a documentary from 2026, directed by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, and it runs for 98 minutes. The screening includes descriptive subtitles, so it's accessible if you're hard of hearing.

The film is set in a remote village in northern Pakistan and tells the story of 22 August 2023, when two of the three cables supporting a cable car ferrying schoolchildren across a mountainous canyon snapped. Eight passengers, including six schoolboys, were left dangling hundreds of metres above a ravine. Naqvi puts together dramatic reenactments, real drone footage, and interviews with the people who were there, and follows the community's rescue effort as it grew from a local emergency into an international spectacle with families gathering below.

It premiered to acclaim and earned a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize in World Cinema at Sundance. Critics have pointed to its ticking-clock tension and the way it comments on the neglect of poor rural communities in Pakistan. The screening itself includes introductions and up to three trailers before the main feature.

Doors open at 7:15pm, with the screening running from 7:30pm to 9:15pm. Tickets start from £5. The film is rated 15, so under-15s aren't admitted. You'll find Reel Cinema at St Stephens, 110 Ferensway, HU2 8LN.