Film premiere ‘Rust’ honors deceased cameraman amid controversy

TORUN, Poland – Alec Baldwin’s controversial western film Rust had its world premiere at a film festival in Poland on Wednesday.

The film also featured a dedication to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot in an accident on set three years ago.

Before the film started, a minute of silence was held for Hutchins. The film opened to a packed house at the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage in the city of Torun.

Cinematographer Bianca Cline (L) and film director Joel Souza (C) continue discussions after the screening of the film ‘Rust’ at the Camerimage Festival in Torun, Poland on November 20, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/Anadolu via Getty Images)

‘Rest’ film recordings

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer, was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.

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Souza introduced the film at the festival, a popular industry event dedicated to cinematography. He told the audience that initially after the accident he could not have imagined continuing production or even working on a film set again.

“It just hurt too much,” he said.

But Hutchins’ husband, Matthew, wanted the film finished, and acted as executive producer.

“It was important to him that the people who knew and loved Halyna got to see her latest work,” Souza said. The mission became “to preserve every possible frame of hers and honor her final work.”

The story of ‘Rust’

“Rest” – which features scene after scene of gun violence – is the story of a 13-year-old boy who is sentenced to hang after accidentally fatally shooting a farmer. He goes on the run with his estranged grandfather, played by Baldwin.

Bianca Cline, the cinematographer who completed the project, said Hutchins determined the look and feel of the film and filmed more than half of it. She studied Hutchins’ notes to make her vision a reality.

Hutchins’ family is suing

Hutchins, 42, was an emerging Ukrainian cinematographer and mother of a young son. She grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked on documentaries in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles and embarking on a promising film career.

Before the premiere, Hutchins’ mother, who is suing Baldwin and the production, declined to attend, saying she saw it as an attempt by Baldwin to “unfairly profit” from her daughter’s death. Baldwin was also not present.

“It was always my hope to meet my daughter in Poland and see her work come to life on screen,” Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, said in a statement released by her lawyer.

“Alec Baldwin continues to add to my pain by his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death,” Solovey added.

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A New Mexico judge has dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin in the fatal shooting. The case was dismissed mid-trial due to allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.

Crew member convicted of shooting

The movie gunmaker, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, received the maximum sentence of 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. The judge ruled that her recklessness amounted to a serious crime of violence. Prosecutors accused Gutierrez-Reed of unknowingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and of failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.