“Rust”, a western starring Alec Baldwin whose filming was mourned by the death of its director of photography, Ukrainian Halyna Hutchins, will have its world premiere on Wednesday at a film festival in Poland.
During the filming of the film in New Mexico, in October 2021, American actor Alec Baldwin brandished a weapon supposed to contain only blank bullets but the projectile was very real.
The shot fatally struck Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
Alec Baldwin himself “will not come” to the festival, the organizers told AFP, without giving the reason for his absence.
For their part, those close to Halyna, her mother, her father and her sister, decided to boycott the premiere of the film, accusing the actor of never having apologized to them and of “refusing to take responsibility for the death” of the young woman.
“Instead, he seeks to unfairly profit from the murder of my daughter. This is why I refuse to attend the festival to promote +Rust+,” wrote Olga Soloveï, Halyna’s mother, in a statement sent to AFP.
– “emotional collapse” –
Joel Souza will present the film at the Camerimage film festival dedicated to images in cinema and directors of photography, in Torun in northern Poland.
He spoke of a “deep emotional breakdown” after the tragic incident.
“‘Rust’ has turned into a sort of raging hurricane (…) And all you have to do is pick up the pieces,” he told AFP on Wednesday.
The decision to complete the film was the hardest one to make.
“I really found myself on a tightrope (…) There was a moment when I considered not making any more films” at all, he said.
What finally convinced him to complete the film was learning that Halyna Hutchins’ husband wanted it so that audiences could see it in theaters.
“Almost three years after the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins (…) Camerimage intends to honor her memory and remind the world of her legacy,” declared the festival organizers.
– Between fiction and reality –
The concept of “Rust” was born from research Mr. Souza had carried out on the youngest person hanged in the American West.
MM. Souza and Baldwin developed the original idea into a screenplay telling the story of an outlaw who rides a horse to save his 13-year-old grandson convicted of an accident deemed murder.
Following this tragedy, the production’s gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was sentenced in April to 18 months in prison for accidentally loading the actor’s pistol with a real bullet.
The trial of Alec Baldwin for involuntary manslaughter on the set of “Rust” was canceled due to a procedural flaw, while bullets linked to the case in the possession of the investigators were not transmitted to the defense.
Filming resumed last year in Montana.
Halyna Hutchins, who grew up in Ukraine, was named one of the industry’s rising stars by American Cinematographer magazine.
– “Mysogynes” –
The tragedy sparked calls for a total ban on guns on film sets. New industry guidelines on the use of firearms now specify that only a gunsmith can issue a gun to an actor.
In the case of “Rust,” prosecutors said, Mr. Baldwin was given the gun by the film’s first assistant director, who later pleaded guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon.
According to Mr. Souza, these changes “do not go far enough. I think they should rule that no real weapons are used.”
Chaired by 2023 Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, the 2024 edition of Camerimage will close its doors on November 23.
The festival began with heated controversy after French director Coralie Fargeat withdrew her film “The Substance”, which won the best screenplay prize at Cannes.
She said she made the decision “after discovering extremely misogynistic and offensive comments” by festival founder Marek Zydowicz.
In an article published this month in Cinematography World magazine, Mr. Zydowicz called the growing recognition of female cinematographers and directors “crucial.”
He also wondered whether this would not lead to “sacrificing works and artists with exceptional artistic achievements just to make room for mediocre film production?”
These remarks, for which Mr. Zydowicz later apologized, also led British director Steve McQueen to absent himself from the festival in protest.
