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Last month we learned that Rust, the last film lensed by rising cinematography star Halyna Hutchins before her untimely death, would be screened at the Camerimage festival in Poland. It seemed like the best possible venue for a tribute to Halyna, as Camerimage is the only prominent film festival that spotlights the work of cinematographers. Furthermore, a post-screening panel was announced that would include director Joel Souza, cinematographer Bianca Cline who stepped in to complete the film, and Halyna’s mentor Stephen Lighthill. It was a terrible tragedy when Halyna was killed from Alec Baldwin’s gun accidentally discharging on set in October 2021. Still, this premiere sounded like it was being organized with the best intentions: to make the movie about celebrating the talent of Halyna Hutchins. It also sounded from that first report that the premiere had the full backing of Halyna’s family. But apparently not? One day before the premiere, Halyna’s mother Olga Solovey released a statement that she would not be attending, adding “Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize.”
“It was always my hope to meet my daughter in Poland to watch her work come alive on screen. Unfortunately, that was ripped away from me when Alec Baldwin discharged his gun and killed my daughter,” Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, said in a statement Tuesday.
“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,” Solovey continued. “That is the reason why I refuse to attend the festival for the promotion of ‘Rust,’ especially now when there is still no justice for my daughter.”
Solovey’s attorney, Gloria Allred, issued her own statement decrying the decision to present the film to the public.
The closing credits for the film begin with the words “for Halyna,” Variety and Deadline report. The tribute is followed by the quote: “What can we do to make this better?” which director Joel Souza said Hutchins often asked, Variety reports.
“Alec Baldwin has disrespected Halyna’s mother, father and sister. Even though Mr. Baldwin discharged the gun that killed Halyna, he has never called them to apologize,” Allred said. “Even worse, he argued, through his attorneys, that Halyna was emotionally distant from her family in Ukraine. That is false, hurtful and insulting. Further, the decision not to even call the family to say he is sorry is cruel and dishonors Halyna and her memory.”
“Now, a decision has been made to promote ‘Rust’ to buyers in order to make a profit for Alec Baldwin and others that had a role in Halyna’s death,” Allred continued. “Olga, (Hutchins’ father) Anatolii and (Hutchins’ sister) Svetlana will not agree with this plan to exploit Halyna’s death.”
…Baldwin is still embroiled in a legal battle with Hutchins’ family and script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, who filed a civil lawsuit against the actor in June. According to Allred, Baldwin’s lawyers have filed a motion asking for a pause on the case; Allred plans to oppose the move.
In 2022, Baldwin and the film’s production company reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, and the couple’s son. As part of the settlement terms, Matthew Hutchins was given the title of executive producer in the movie.
There is no end to the sadness surrounding this story, and Olga is absolutely right that it feels like there’s been no justice for Halyna (except for armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed getting the maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter). That being said, there are wildly conflicting reports on what was approved by the family, and I honestly don’t know who to believe based on what we’ve seen so far. The premiere and panel happened on Wednesday this week. A friend and fellow filmmaker of Halyna’s, Rachel Mason, revealed that she has completed a documentary on Halyna. Rachel interviewed Olga for the documentary, and stated emphatically that Olga “gave her blessing” for Rust to be completed. Joel Souza similarly made strong statements that Halyna’s husband Matthew very much wanted the film to be made and released. So yeah, I don’t know what the behind the scenes story is. Grief is not always a linear journey, though. If Olga changed her mind about how she feels her deceased daughter’s work is being handled, I’m inclined to give her all the grace in the world.