‘Rust’ Director and New Cinematographer Explain How and Why the Film Was Completed After Halyna Hutchins’ Death

variety.com:

Carolyn Giardina Three years after an on-set gun accident claimed the life of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the film premiered Wednesday at the EnergaCamerimage Festival in Poland.

But many questions remain, including, why was the movie finished? “It was not an easy decision,” admitted director Joel Souza in an interview with Variety at Camerimage, where he introduced “Rust” with Bianca Cline, the DP who finished the movie. “I initially said no, numerous times.

But it started to become clear to me that this is what the family wanted, that it was going to benefit them. And so that aspect of it was sort of an initial psychological hurdle that I cleared.

Maybe, if this is important and they want me to do this, how can I say no?” The director, who was also struck by a bullet and injured in the accident, said he then started to consider the notion of “preserving everything that she did.” He added, “just honoring her final work, and the notion of somebody else doing that, I just couldn’t live with that. … At the end of the day, that was the only thing I could do.” Star and producer Alec Baldwin, who was handling the prop gun at the time of the accident, was charged with manslaughter but the case was dismissed on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to turn over evidence. (“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed is serving an 18-month sentence for Hutchins’ death.) Terms of the settlement with Hutchins’ family, including her husband and son, remain confidential, though it’s known that the cinematographer’s husband, Matthew Hutchins, received an executive producer credit as part of the agreement.