Despite the protestations of some DPs who felt the screening was in poor taste, controversial Western Rust officially premiered at Poland’s EnergaCamerimage Festival Wednesday. In 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of the film by a bullet discharged from lead actor Alec Baldwin’s prop gun. The past three years have seen multiple hearings, trials, and an eventual arrest for armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who is currently serving 18 months in prison for her role in the tragic incident.
With all this in mind, it’s a bit shocking that director Joel Souza—who was also injured in the shooting—finished the movie at all. Speaking to Variety at the festival, he said that it “was not an easy decision,” but “it started to become clear to me that this is what the family wanted, that it was going to benefit them.” As a part of his settlement, Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, was given an executive producer title in the credits. That means he’ll receive a portion of the proceeds when the film finds a distributor, which a rep told the trade may be announced as early as this week. In a bit of a weird resonance, Rust follows the story of a 13-year-old who accidentally shoots and kills a rancher.
Additionally, Souza said that completing and screening the film was also about “preserving everything that [Hutchins] did” and “just honoring her final work.” “At the end of the day, that was the only thing I could do,” he explained. Along with Bianca Cline, the DP who took over for Hutchins, Souza worked to “preserve every last frame of hers that I can,” occasionally editing the original story to fit the existing footage and calling back actors to film new scenes. The scene inside a church during which Hutchins was shot, for example, was scrapped completely, leading to some necessary reshoots. “And to this day, I’m blown away that they came and did this for her,” Souza said.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the reception at the actual screening was positive. The outlet does note that the crowd was made up largely of fellow cinematographers but reports that the film received a “rousing round of applause” when the lights came up. In an introduction to the screening, Hutchins’ friend Rachel Mason, who has been working on a documentary about the late cinematographer since her death, said, “I really hope the world can understand that this was a courageous act to complete this film… [The cast and crew] thought of one thing: the fact that [Halyna] has a son, and that son doesn’t get to have a mother anymore, and if they could do something for that little boy, then why would they not be there?” Halyna was also honored in the credits with a quote she reportedly used to say all the time: “What can we do to make this better?” Speaking to Variety about the tribute, Souza said, “She did live her life like that. She was kind to people and treated people well, and wanted to be helpful to people, and I think it’s a fitting legacy for her, that quote.”
Hutchins’ mother Olga Solovey, however, was not in attendance at the screening. In a statement issued by her lawyer Gloria Allred on Tuesday, she wrote, “Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for [Hutchins’] death. Instead, he seeks to unjustly profit from his killing of my daughter. That is the reason why I refuse to attend the festival for the promotion of Rust, especially now when there is still no justice for my daughter.” Alec Baldwin was reportedly not invited to the festival.
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