Set to be released on March 15, 2019 by Focus Features, The Mustang is a drama directed by French writer, director, and actress Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre. Starring Matthias Schoenaerts and Jason Mitchell, the film is about a convict with a violent history who participates in a social rehabilitation therapy program training wild horses. During the program, he finds his own humanity and confronts his violent past as he deals with an unbreakable mustang.
De Clermont-Tonnerre developed The Mustang through the Sundance Labs and received the Sundance Institute/NHK Award for it in 2015. The film is her directorial debut, and it is actually based on her 2014 short film Rabbit, which is about a therapist working in tandem with a correctional facility’s Pet Partnership Program. The therapist entrusts a female prisoner with a small rabbit, hoping that she will be able to connect with it.
Where Was The Mustang Filmed?
The Mustang was filmed at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City, NV, which is currently being converted to a museum. Thanks to the production, the association that has been working on meeting the requirements needed to convert the historic prison to a museum received a large donation for the 1200+ volunteer hours it took to assist the production staff (source).
The Mustang will have its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.