“In poor taste”: the selection of the film Rust at the festival raises controversy

Camerimage festival will be screened Rust

This film may already seem very complicated, even unpleasant Rustduring filming where Alec Baldwin accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza, it could be released in theaters or even on the VOD/SVOD circuit. But, according to some rumors, the distribution company The Avenue could distribute it starting from November. A potential distribution that would then follow its premiere presentation at the Polish Camerimage festivalan important European festival whose main focus is photography…

A controversial decision

Halyna Hutchins, born in Ukraine, a country bordering Poland, was a cinematographer. There is therefore, from this point of view, a logic why the festival pays homage to him. But there is also an observation and a problem. The note is that a tribute has already been paid to him at the Camerimage Festival in 2021, the year of his death, with the screening of his graduation film at the American Film Institute, accompanied by the words of several members of the American Society of Cinematographers. And the problem is that presenting the film in which he lost his life, and the filming of which evidently did not respect basic safety regulations, appears to the vast majority of professionals and cinema audiences as “bad taste“.

As soon as the western selection Rust announced, a film that we remember had been produced with a very small budget (6-7 million dollars) and had no ambition to be shown on the big screen, several directors of photography expressed their incomprehension and disavowed the initiative of festival. Thus, Black Panther cinematographer Rachel Morrison wrote under the festival’s Instagram post announcing the world premiere of Rust :

I completely agree with paying homage to the memory of Halyna Hutchins and her magnificent work, but certainly not showing and then promoting the movie that killed her.

Other professionals followed Rachel Morrison’s words, calling for the screening to be cancelled Rust at the Polish festival.

Homage or unworthy publicity stunt?

Expirationwho was able to consult a WhatsApp group that brings together hundreds of festival delegates and cinematographers, reports that many members of this group have judged the future screening of the film “in very bad taste” AND “insensitive“.

However, other voices were heard to indicate in particular that “his family wants the film to be shown. They say it was his dream to see a film shown at CamerimageASC President Stephen Lighthill will also be present at the festival and will take part in a debate with the director Rust Joel Souza and the director of photography who replaced Halyna Hutchins when filming resumed. A sign that the decision has its detractors as well as its defenders.

However, it is up to everyone to judge the relevance of this projection. And to form your own opinion whether it is a healthy motivated homage or whether it is a very dubious way of advertising this western brought and produced by Alec Baldwin… .

Source: Cine Serie

Ray

Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.