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This year has been a rollercoaster of legal happenings related to the accidental killing of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021. Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was tried, convicted, and sentenced to the maximum 18 months in prison. Alec Baldwin was tried for a couple days before the case was dismissed with prejudice (meaning he can never be recharged) after his team discovered prosecutorial misconduct. In the fallout of Alec’s case, Hannah attempted to get her conviction dismissed or retried, which was just denied this week. Meanwhile the prosecutor has asked the judge to reconsider charging Alec again (despite, you know, the law).
The great tragedy in all these events is the feeling that justice for the life, legacy, and work of Halyna Hutchins has been lost in the narrative. Not anymore. Rust is finally set to premiere next month in Poland at Camerimage, the only high profile film festival that spotlights the work of cinematographers. I can’t think of a more fitting tribute.
“Almost three years after the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins, a Ukrainian cinematographer who was part of the festival family, Camerimage is set to honor her memory and remind the world of her legacy,” the festival announced in a press release.
According to director of photography Bianca Cline, who took over for the late Halyna Hutchins after her accidental shooting on the set of the film, the screening will be honoring Hutchins’ “beautiful” work.
“We wanted to do this to honor her and to make sure that people could see what she was working on,” Cline says. “I think that it’s her best film. I think that it’s her most beautiful film, and I’ve seen all of them.”
She also feels that Camerimage is the perfect place for the movie’s premiere.
“What’s cool about the festival is that it’s the most widely known film festival that’s solely focused on cinematography,” says Cline. “And I think that one of the things about the film is that nobody knows anything about Halyna. Everyone just knows about her death, and that’s sad because she’s such a beautiful person and a talented cinematographer.”
Cline adds, “I’m in awe of how much people admired her and just how talented she is. I think that cinematographers sometimes get relegated to being seen as technicians, but I think that Halyna elevated it to an art.”
Cline tells PEOPLE that Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, and sister, Svetlana Zemko, are looking forward to the finished film coming out.
“They’re very excited,” she says of Hutchins’ relatives, who live in Kiev. “Halyna’s mother was probably the biggest champion of the film. She wanted it to be done because she knew how much it meant to Halyna. She told me how excited Halyna was to see the film.”
After the movie’s premiere, there will be a panel discussion with director Joel Souza, Cline, and
Stephen Lighthill, Halyna’s mentor from her film school, AFI.According to the press release, the trio will be talking about “the unique visual style that Halyna developed on set and explain how Bianca Cline, who took over her work, managed to remarkably replicate Halyna’s style.”
The press release adds that the discussion will also touch on important issues in the film industry. Halyna’s story will serve as a starting point for a conversation about the role of women in cinematography and, of course, safety on set.
After everything that happened, having Rust be seen by audiences will always be complicated, if not tainted. That being said, I think the producers and festival organizers are approaching this the right way here, by making the film about Halyna’s work and artistry, and having its world debut be at a cinematography-centered event. It makes the case that while it may be difficult for us as viewers, watching Rust is actually the very best way to honor Halyna. Because her work should be seen — Camerimage has some stills from Rust up on their website and they are stunning. I love also that they’re not merely screening the film, but will have the panel with director Joel Souza (who was injured in the same incident that killed Halyna), Bianca Cline (really appreciate that they hired another female DP to complete the project), and Halyna’s own film school mentor Stephen Lighthill. Again, these steps ensure that the purpose of releasing Rust is to remember and celebrate Halyna, which I think is the only decent way to go about it.
Completed projects can vanish or never be released as tax right-offs for the studios and this tragic mess not only re-assembled the cast and crew to be finished, but will be released? Why exactly? Hard no. Make a doc focusing on the woman who died. Releasing this is a cynical attempt to profit from tragedy.
The film was finished at her family’s request, including her husband. It was part of his settlement with Alec Baldwin. Her husband and young son will get her portion of the profits. If this is how the family wishes to memorialize her, with a film instead of a gravestone, who are we to judge?
Agree.
So they actually went ahead with this film after she was killed?
It was the family’s wish and part of the settlement.
Rust is not the first film where someone died during production, the
Twilight Zone and the original The Crow being two well-known examples. Credit to the producers for making the effort to acknowledge Halyna.
On Turner classic movies was Saratoga with jean harlow. She died before the movie was completed and looked ill in her scenes in the film. She died of kidney failure. The movie was shown anyway after discussions of scrapping the film. It was shown but with another actress standing in but only seen wearing large hats so her face was not seen.
I think it’s great people get to see her work.
I can’t imagine *wanting* to see this movie after all of that. Just ugh. I’m so tired of Rust.
Since it was the family’s wish to complete the film. I don’t hate the idea. But don’t forget the last I read neither Alec nor the production company has paid out on the financial settlement agreement.
I am still salty Alec skated justice once again on a glaring technicality.
But glad to see Hannah’s conviction stands and was just denied the latest appeal.