Until now, the only footage released from the indie Western movie Rust has been shown in court. In clips, lead actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin can be seen rehearsing in a cowboy hat and waving a vintage Colt .45 revolver.
While setting up a scene at Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, N.M., in October 2021, Baldwin held up a prop gun that turned out to be loaded with live ammunition. The gun went off, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
It's been three years since the accident, which set off a string of lawsuits and high-profile trials about her death. But production on the film moved forward. On Wednesday, Rust got its world premiere at Camerimage, a film festival in Poland celebrating cinematography.
The aftermath
"When it happened…believe me, I was angry," recalls Souza, who is still recovering from being shot in the shoulder.
He testified about the accident during the trial for the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, last spring. A New Mexico judge found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and she remains in prison. The same judge later dismissed the case against Baldwin for involuntary manslaughter after ruling that the prosecutors had withheld potential evidence.
When the production of Rust started back up, this time in Montana, Souza agreed to direct again.
"It was a very tough decision and I'll be very honest — I was a wreck through most of the second go around," he told NPR. "It's something I still struggle with, [if] I should have or shouldn't have. But I just feel like, for me, that was the right thing to do."
Souza says he wanted to complete the film he started with Hutchins, whose work he admired and who he says was "so damn cool."
"There are people out there who say, 'I don't want to support [or] put money in Baldwin's pocket or the producers' pocket," Souza says. His response? "You're not going to. That's not how this is going to work."
A source close to the production who wasn't authorized to speak publicly says the film's original producers will not gain financially from the movie; As part of a wrongful death settlement, Hutchins' husband, Matt, became an executive producer on the film. The terms of his settlement were sealed, but the source confirms that Hutchins and son Andros will get profits from the film.
After stepping in to finish shooting Rust, cinematographer Bianca Cline donated her pay to charity.
"It was excruciatingly painful – emotionally – every day, because I wanted to do work that was worthy of Halyna," says Cline. She says she regularly speaks with Hutchins' mother, Olga Solovey, who lives in Ukraine.
"She just always reminds me of how excited [Halyna] was to do a Western," Cline says. "She thought it was going to be a really great film. So she's like, 'Bianca. We have to get as many people as we can to see the film.'"
But in a statement shared with NPR, Solovey wrote that while she had hoped to go to the festival to watch her daughter's film on screen, she wouldn't be in attendance Wednesday. "Unfortunately, that was ripped from me when Alec Baldwin discharged his gun and killed my daughter. Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her 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 when there is still no justice for my daughter."
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents Hutchins' family in Ukraine, said her mother, father and sister don't wish to promote Rust. "Olga, [Halyna's father] Anatolii and [her sister] Svetlana will not agree with this plan to exploit Halyna's death," she wrote in a statement.
In a statement to NPR, Luke Nikas, one of Baldwin's attorneys, disputed that characterization. "Alec Baldwin completed the Rust movie for the benefit of Halyna Hutchins' family and her legacy. He was not paid to complete the film, he has not and will not profit from the film, and he has zero financial interest in the film or any proceeds the film may earn. Statements that he will profit from Rust, or that he completed the film for reasons unrelated to his desire to support Hutchins' family, are false." During Baldwin's trial, the actor's legal team argued that others on set were responsible for letting a live round into the gun.
Melina Spadone, a representative for Rust Movie Productions, also took issue with the idea that the premiere would benefit the film's producers financially. "Gloria Allred's misrepresentation of both the Camerimage festival and any profit motivation is disappointing. The decision to complete Rust was made with the full support of Halyna's family," she wrote in a statement. "The Camerimage festival celebrates the artistry of cinematographers; it is not a festival for buyers. None of the producers of Rust stand to benefit financially from the film. The suggestion that those involved in completing Halyna Hutchins' film were motivated by profit is disrespectful to those who worked tirelessly to honor her legacy."
Rust's premiere in Torun, Poland
By all accounts, Hutchins had dreamed of showing her work at this annual festival that honors international cinematographers.
But, in recent weeks, the festival has faced backlash for a separate issue — an op-ed in Cinematography World magazine by the founder and CEO Marek Zydowicz. He wrote that the push for feature films and TV series directed by and shot by female cinematographers could lower standards. In response, the American Society of Cinematographers, the British Society of Cinematographers, Women in Cinematography and others from around the world have blasted his remarks as sexist.
Zydowicz has since apologized for what he called "a misunderstanding," and the festival's main jury, chaired by actress Cate Blanchett, issued a statement pledging "meaningful discussions" about inclusion.
Meanwhile, organizers aimed to honor Hutchins at the Rust premiere, including with a moment of silence. Alec Baldwin was not at the event. "[Baldwin's presence] never came up during our discussions about the screening of Rust. This event is primarily a tribute to Halyna, and that is our main focus," Zydowicz said in a statement to NPR. But some in the industry, especially cinematographers, are upset the film screened at all.
"It's really, really in bad taste," says cinematographer Emilia Mendieta Cordova, echoing others who posted their disgust on social media in the weeks prior. "There are better ways of honoring that legacy by showcasing the work that she did and not the work that killed her."
Cordova was Hutchins' friend and a classmate at the American Film Institute. She helped plan Hutchins' funeral and read aloud a victim impact statement during the involuntary manslaughter trial for armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Cordova doesn't ever want to watch Rust.
"There's a section of people who will go see it because of that morbid curiosity of like, 'Oh, this is what killed Halyna Hutchins,'" she says. "All I would see is blood, honestly."
Souza says he can understand the anger, but he hopes audiences will give Rust a chance. He and cinematographer Bianca Cline both spoke at the premiere Wednesday.
"Obviously, the human cost and the tragedy of it overshadows everything, rightfully so, and is so much more important than any movie," he tells NPR. "I just wonder if people will sort of see past that and engage with it as a film or if it will be a thing where people can't ever separate the movie from what happened during its filming."
Souza says ultimately, he's proud of Rust, and thinks Halyna Hutchins would be too.
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