‘Rust’ world premiere set for Camerimage Festival to honour Halyna Hutchins’ legacy

Halyna Hutchins
| Photo Credit: Halyna Hutchins/Instagram

Actor Alec Baldwin’s film Rust is set to make its world premiere this November at the Camerimage Festival in Poland, which celebrates the work of cinematographers and directors of photography.

The festival will honour Halyna Hutchins, the Ukrainian cinematographer who died on the set of Rust almost three years ago. Hutchins was a beloved member of the Camerimage family, and the festival announced in a press release that it is committed to honouring her memory and legacy, reported People.

Bianca Cline, the director of photography who stepped in after Hutchins’ death, shared how important this screening is to honor Hutchins’ work. “We wanted to do this to honor her and to make sure that people could see what she was working on. I think that it’s her best film. I think that it’s her most beautiful film, and I’ve seen all of them,” Cline said.

Cline also added that Camerimage is the ideal place for the premiere of Rust. “What’s cool about the festival is that it’s the most widely known film festival that’s solely focused on cinematography. People know about Halyna’s death, but they don’t know how talented she was. She was a beautiful person and a gifted cinematographer,” he said.

Cline further said that he was in awe of “how much people admired” Hutchins and her talent. “I’m in awe of how much people admired her and just how talented she is. Cinematographers are often seen as technicians, but Halyna elevated it to an art,” he said.

Hutchins’ family, who live in Kyiv, Ukraine, is also looking forward to the release of the film. Cline shared that Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, was the “biggest champion” of the film’s completion. “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,” Cline said.

Following the premiere of Rust, a panel discussion will be held featuring the film’s director, Joel Souza, Bianca Cline, and Stephen Lighthill, who was Halyna’s mentor at the American Film Institute (AFI). The panel will discuss Halyna’s unique visual style and how Cline worked to continue her vision on set.

The discussion will also focus on key topics in the film industry, including the role of women in cinematography and the importance of safety on set. “All of us are generally aware that we’re kind of in a dangerous position,” Cline said. “Her death solidified how dangerous it is. There’s a difference between it feeling dangerous and then it being like, oh yeah, it is very, very dangerous.”

EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2024 will take place from November 16 to November 23 in Poland.