Alec Baldwin-starrer Rust will make its world premiere this November at the Camerimage Festival in Poland. The event celebrates the work of cinematographers and directors of photography.
It will celebrate the life of the late Ukrainian cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died on set nearly three years ago working on Rust. The late Hutchins was a “beloved member of the Camerimage family,” and in a press release, per People, promised to keep her memory alive and celebrate her life with the festival.
Bianca Cline, the director of photography who took Hutchins’ place after she had passed away, wanted to underline how important this screening was in order 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 also noticed that Camerimage is the perfect place for the premiere of Rust. She added, “What’s cool about the festival is that it’s the most widely known film festival 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.”
Cline felt struck by how many people admired Hutchins and her gift. “I’m in awe of how much people admired her. Cinematographers are often seen as technicians, but Halyna elevated it to an art,” she said.
But Hutchins’ family in Kyiv, Ukraine, can hardly wait for the film to hit theaters. According to Cline, Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, was the “biggest champion” of finishing the film. “Halyna’s mother was probably the biggest champion of the film. She wanted it done because she knew how much it meant to Halyna,” Cline said.
Immediately after the Rust screening, a panel discussion with the film’s director Joel Souza, Bianca Cline and Stephen Lighthill, who was a mentor to Halyna at AFI will talk about Hutchins’ singular visual style and how Cline worked to realize her vision on set.
The panel will also touch on some highlighted topics in the film industry. Women in cinematography and, most importantly, safety on set. Aware of the dangers involved in the industry: “Her death solidified how dangerous it is. There’s a difference between it feeling dangerous and then it being very, very dangerous.”
ANI
