Olga Solovey, the mother of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (seen above in inset photo), who was fatally shot on the set of Alec Baldwin's western film Rust, boycotted the premiere at the Camerimage International Film Festival in Torun, Poland.
Alec Baldwin, who stars in the film and is one of the producers, was pointing a gun at the camera during a rehearsal in a wooden western church on the set when he claims it went off accidentally -- saying that he pulled the hammer but did not release the trigger. Hutchins was struck in the upper body and died shortly after, while director Joel Souza was shot in the shoulder and recovered.
Rust, which takes place in the 1880s, is about a 13-year-old boy who accidentally shoots a rancher, resulting in his death. The boy is then sentenced to be hanged, so his estranged grandfather, Harland Rust (Alec Baldwin), goes on the run with the boy.
The film was completed despite criticism from within the industry and the premiere, which took place Wednesday, November 20, 2024, was met with controversy as attendees of the festival urged others to boycott the film.
Solovey released a statement through a lawyer to state her opposition to the festival's decision to go ahead with the premiere of the film, which read, "It was always my hope to meet my daughter in Poland to watch her work come alive on screen. 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."
Baldwin went to trial for manslaughter in July 2024, but due to the prosecution not providing evidence in advance of the trial to the defense that a "good samaritan" had turned over a box of live ammunition that was said to possibly be linked to Halyna Hutchins's death, the case was dismissed two days after the trial began. ~Alexandra Heilbron
Inset photo credit: Muhammad Hussein G. Smaisim
Shouldn't all of the Ticket Sales go to the Family of the young woman who was senselessy killed for no good reason, due to the disreguard of the Actor who killed her? It is the Least these wealthy Actors and Movie Companies could do! If not, I will never watch this Tragic Movie knowing that the Trauma & Harm it has caused has not been corrected & met with full compassion. And a Black Eye on the Movie Makers & Callous Drunkard Actors who have such lack of Compassion for Human Lives! So devestatingly Sad!
First and foremost a woman was killed. Second she was a member of the crew and was getting paid to make and complete the film. Third she was shot and killed in an ACCIDENT (does anyone truly think some actor, let alone a star, did just outright shoot and murder her let alone also shoot the director ON PURPOSE?). And lastly the amount of money, people, hours that goes into preproduction, production and then to finish production and all the money and effort to release it MATTERS just as much. Hutchinson’s family also was to get some financial settlement (which I assume went far beyond her initial hourly wage) that included the completion and release of this film. This is not like someone had a minor disagreement, nor simply left production mid shoot: to not complete it dishonors everyone who worked up to the moment of the shooting. To complete it after a death took a lot of consideration from and by several people. If someone was fired or walked off set they would have just hired someone to finish it. To scrap the project not only is massive amounts of money but no one could ever see her last project (let alone being a massive budget project such as a feature film).
Watch a movie created through ba tragedy? No thank you. It's callous, and if mom took money, hmm.
I don't think anyone believes that Baldwin meant to put anyone in danger, but protection for those involved wasn't apparent. As often is the case, the producers including Baldwin are concerned with production costs and, as in this case, not for safety when guns and ammunition are involved. Was everyone qualified for their jobs? From the reports no one was taking any responsibility and Halyna Hutchins lost her life. Justice wasn't served.
Baldwin had cut the expense account and did not allow enough staff to fulfill all safety checks.
The husband of Halyna got the money from the settlement, as well as executive producer status. Her mother didn't get any money and from what it appears, didn't want any money. She wants Alec Baldwin to apologize. He should really serve time, it's a tragedy that he got off scott free due to a technicality, but the least he could do is apologize. He was a producer on the film and should have been more careful as to what was going on, on the set. Not to mention, he should have checked the gun. Most actors do, they don't just blindly fire it without doing a safety check.