Kasia Smutniak wins Audience Award in Rome for documentary Mustang

Polish actress and director Kasia Smutniak has won the Audience Award at the Rome Film Festival for her documentary, “Mustang”. The film explores Smutniak’s personal connection to the Mustang district in Nepal, a region she first visited in 2003 with her late partner, Pietro Taricone.

Following Taricone’s death in a 2010 skydiving accident, Smutniak continued their shared mission to support the local community. In 2016, she established a school in the region through a foundation named after Taricone. The documentary, narrated by their daughter Sophie, focuses on the hope provided by this small school in a remote community.

Smutniak announced that all proceeds from the film’s theatrical distribution in Italy, scheduled for November 2026, will be donated to the children attending the school in Nepal. The film is also slated to debut at the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival in Poland in 2027.