Halyna Hutchins’ Mother Refuses to Attend ‘Rust’ Premiere in Poland: ‘There Is Still No Justice for My Daughter’
by Gene Maddaus · Variety“Rust” is set to debut on Wednesday at the Camerimage Festival in Poland, three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentally shot and killed during production in New Mexico.
Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, who is suing the production and actor Alec Baldwin, will not be there.
In a statement issued by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, on Tuesday, Solovey said she regards the premiere as an attempt to profit from her daughter’s death.
“It was always my hope to meet my daughter in Poland to watch her work come alive on screen,” said Solovey, who lives with her family in Ukraine. “Unfortunately, that was ripped away from me when Alec Baldwin discharged his gun and killed my daughter. 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. 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.”
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“Rust” was completed about 18 months after the shooting, with additional production taking place in Montana. The film was completed as part of a legal settlement with Hutchins’ widower, with the expectation that some of the proceeds could be used to benefit her son, who was 9 at the time of her death.
Hutchins’ parents and sister filed a separate lawsuit after the settlement was announced, which is now pending in New Mexico.
The premiere has been presented by the producers as an opportunity to honor Hutchins’ final work.
Joel Souza, the film’s director, was wounded in the shooting. He is expected to participate in a panel discussion after the Camerimage premiere, along with Bianca Cline, the cinematographer who completed the film, and Stephen Lighthill, who mentored Hutchins at AFI.
The “Rust” producers have yet to make certain payments to Hutchins’ widower and son, prompting their attorney to threaten to restart the litigation. The film’s distribution has been repeatedly delayed, postponing the payments.
Allred said that showcasing the movie to distributors amounts to exploitation.
“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 and her fellow attorneys said. “Olga, Anatolii and Svetlana will not agree with this plan to exploit Halyna’s death.”
Baldwin was put on trial for manslaughter in July, but a judge dismissed the case due to the prosecution’s failure to turn over evidence to the defense. The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, is now serving an 18-month sentence for loading a live bullet into Baldwin’s gun.