Three years after the tragic on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Alec Baldwin’s indie Western Rust will finally be revealed to the public on Wednesday. The movie has been selected to make its world premiere at Poland’s Camerimage International Film Festival, a respected specialty event focusing on achievements in cinematography. But the screening in the town of Toruń has gotten off to a somewhat rocky start. Tickets to the premiere became available to festival attendees to claim via the event’s private ticketing system early Tuesday morning — and the website promptly crashed, presumably because of an overwhelming surge in demand.
“The Camerimage portal is currently undergoing system maintenance,” a message on the site read shortly after 8am, when tickets became available. By about 8:35am, some festival visitors were reporting that the system was working for them again.
Camerimage is known for its devoted following, with keynote talks from the world’s greatest cinematographers drawing packed crowds that often overflow into the cinemas’ stairways. But the interest around Rust is unprecedented for the event. The film will be shown just once at the festival, and it will feature a brief panel discussion prior to the screening. Speakers at the premiere will include Rust writer-director Joel Souza, who was struck by the same bullet that killed Hutchins when a prop gun handled by Baldwin was discharged during production in October 2021. Appearing alongside the director will be Stephen Lighthill, Huchins’ mentor from her student days at the American Film Institute, and Bianca Cline, the cinematographer who stepped in to finish the movie after a wrongful death lawsuit was settled.
Camerimage’s decision to screen Rust caused some backlash in the industry. When the screening was announced a month ago, some DPs took to social media to argue that the move was promotional and undertaken in poor taste, given that the creation of the work caused the death of one of their compatriots. The festival has emphasized, however, that the premiere was only intended to honor the work and wishes of Hutchins, a past attendee of Camerimage who had privately told her collaborators that she hoped her work would one day screen there. Organizers also told The Hollywood Reporter that Baldwin was deliberately not invited, because of the distraction his presence at the event would likely generate.
The buzz on the ground in the early days of Camerimage — as guests shared rumored accounts of what festival figures who have seen the film have described — is that the movie’s cinematography is highly accomplished and a must-see. Given that the festival attracts many hundreds of working DPs every year, the strong demand for premiere tickets is understandable simply as a matter of appreciation for the craft.
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