The indie Western Rust made its world premiere on Wednesday, some three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot dead on set. It screened at the Camerimage film festival in Poland, where The Hollywood Reporter notes it received an "emphatic embrace." Director Joel Souza, who was wounded by the prop gun wielded by Alec Baldwin—which contained live ammunition—returned to finish the film and says he debated fiercely about whether to do so. "I was a wreck through most of the second go-around," he tells 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."
Baldwin didn't attend the screening (he reportedly wasn't invited), and Hutchins' mother, Olga Solovey, declined to be there. "It was always my hope to meet my daughter in Poland to watch her work come alive on screen," she said in a statement, per the AP. Solovey continued, "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."
As for anyone struggling with whether they should see the film, Souza shares his perspective, per NPR: "There are people out there who say, 'I don't want to support [or] put money in Baldwin's pocket or the producers' pocket.' You're not going to. That's not how this is going to work." Sources tell the outlet that the film's original producers won't make money off the film, but that Hutchins' husband and son will, as part of the wrongful death settlement that was reached. THR notes the film has yet to find a US distributor. (More Rust stories.)
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