The 2008 documentary about Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the Twin Towers is Man on Wire.
Directed by James Marsh, Man on Wire recounts Petit's remarkable 1974 high-wire performance between New York's World Trade Center towers. Petit and his collaborators secretly installed a cable and related equipment, turning the illegal operation into a carefully planned feat that lasted for almost an hour.
The film uses interviews, archival photographs, surviving footage, and dramatic reenactments. Its structure resembles a heist movie, emphasizing the planning, disguises, technical problems, and suspense surrounding the operation. The title comes from the wording of the police report made after Petit was arrested.
Man on Wire premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won both the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. It later won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The Walk, released in 2015, tells the same basic story as a dramatic feature film rather than a documentary.