Rust has finally been released. The controversial film, led by Alec Baldwin, was screened publicly for the first time in Torun, Poland. The screening, which is one of the centerpiece events of this year’s Camerimage Film Festival, took place just over three years after the film’s cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed after a firearm was discharged by Baldwin during an on-set rehearsal. Charges against him were dropped this summer.
Before the screening, a moment of silence was held in Hutchin’s honor. Despite her widow Matthew Hutchins wanting the film to be completed in her memory and was brought on as an executive producer of the film, Hutchins’ mother was in strong opposition. She is currently suing Baldwin and the production, and noted that she refused to attend the screening, believing Baldwin is trying to “unjustly profit” from her daughter’s death. Baldwin did not attend the screening.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“It was always my hope to meet my daughter in Poland to watch her work come alive on screen,” said Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, in a statement issued by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, per The Associated Press. “Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death.”
Joel Souza, the film’s director, and Bianca Cline, the replacement cinematographer, introduced the screening. Souza and Cline gave emotional introductions, with Cline saying the movie gives a view of Halyna’s “vision of the world.” Souza said the screening is a “celebration” of “his friend” Hutchins and her talent. “She really was something,” Souza said.
Hutchins’ friend, filmmaker Rachel Mason, was also in attendance and described Rust as “a very misunderstood film.” She also revealed she’s working on a documentary about Hutchins’ life and the process of finishing Rust after Hutchins’ death.
“Rust was going to change her life but instead took her life,” Mason said, adding those involved did a “courageous act” in completing the film. “It’s a real honor and privilege and I’m astonished that I get to stand here and introduce the world to my amazing friends work,” she said.
Of Matthew’s involvement in the film, Souza said: “It was important to him that the people who knew and loved Halyna get to see her final work. The mission became “to preserve every single frame that I could of hers, and to honor her final work.”
The western film tells the story of a “13-year-old boy who is sentenced to be hanged after he fatally shoots a rancher by accident. He goes on the run with his estranged grandfather.” Baldwin plays the boy’s grandfather.
