Kasia Smutniak wins Audience Award in Rome for documentary "Mustang"

Kasia Smutniak has received an audience award at the 21st Rome Film Festival. She was honoured for the documentary "Mustang", her second work as a director. The news was reported by WP Film on 25 October 2026.

A shared award

Smutniak shared the audience award with Rafiki Fariala, the creator of the film "Congo boy". "Mustang" is due in Italian cinemas in November 2026. The sources give no information about distribution in the UK or Poland.

What the film is about

"Mustang" is a personal story about Smutniak's trips to Nepal, which began in 2003. The Mustang district is a former Himalayan kingdom on the border with Tibet. A foundation she set up in the name of her late partner, Pietro Taricone, built a school there, which opened in 2016. The documentary is narrated by Sophie, the daughter of Smutniak and Taricone.

The director's words

Accepting the award, Smutniak spoke about how the festival audience had received the film. "This story, this film, this documentary was received at the festival in an extraordinary way," she said.

She also explained why she decided to tell the story. She said it was not because it is important, but because it holds a hope for a better part of ourselves, represented by a small school in Nepal where a group of children study.