Alec Baldwin's film 'Rust' gets premiere date after shooting controversy

Alec Baldwin's troubled film Rust is getting a world premiere in November.

The premiere has been announced three years after the accidental shooting on the sets that killed director Halyna Hutchins.

The movie has finally been approved for screening at the weeklong festival, Energa CAMERIMAGE, in Poland.

As per the festival, which honours the work of cinematographers and directors of photography, the movie is being taken into consideration for Halyna Hutchins' efforts in the making.

"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.

The director of photography Bianca Cline, who took over for Halyna Hutchins after her shocking death on the set, said 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 told People. "I think that it's her best film. I think that it's her most beautiful film, and I've seen all of them."

"What's cool about the festival is that it's the most widely known film festival that's solely focused on cinematography," the outlet quoted 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 added, "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 also disclosed that Hutchins' family, including her mother, Olga Solovey, and sister, Svetlana Zemko, are looking forward to the finished film.

"They're very excited," she said 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."

A panel discussion has also been lined up following the movie's premiere, which will bring together director Joel Souza, Cline, and Stephen Lighthill, Halyna’s mentor from her film school, AFI, to speak on the occasion.

Cline also acknowleged the gravity of the situation as they had to complete the project after the tragic interruption.

"All of us are generally aware that we're kind of in a dangerous position," Cline said of working in the camera "zone," which Halyna's "death solidified how dangerous it is."

On a concluding note, she expressed her gratitude at getting to carry on Hutchins' vision for Rust and is happy they finished it and are bringing it to the world.

"I think once people see it, that they'll understand more of why we finished this. I think it's gotten painted as some sort of low-budget genre film and I think it's anything but. I think it's a really beautiful film. It's Halyna's best work."

EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2024 will take place November 16-23.