The World Premiere of “Rust” Is Already Attracting Controversy

It’s not uncommon for a film festival to honor the life and work of a deceased professional, turning the festivities — at least in part — into a tribute to someone’s craft. The upcoming EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2024, a festival held in the Polish city of Toruń, took to social media to announce the industry professional whose work they would be spotlighting this year. Unfortunately, the choice of tribute has not been met with universal approval — for reasons that will rapidly become clear.

“Almost three years after the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins, a Ukrainian cinematographer who was part of the festival family, Camerimage is set to honour her memory and remind the world of her legacy,” the festival announced on Instagram. The festival would do this, they revealed, by holding the global premiere of the film Rust, which Hutchins was working on when she was killed on the set.

As IndieWire’s Chris O’Falt reported, a number of other film professionals found the announcement to be in bad taste. “As a festival dedicated to celebrating the work of cinematographers amidst countless others, this feels like a somber funeral,” fellow cinematographer Lena Katharina Krause wrote in a comment. “By showcasing this film, it legitimizes everything that went wrong on set. Instead of honoring the craft, this festival — meant to elevate camera work — ends up mocking us.”

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The festival’s announcement revealed that Rust director Joel Souza, who was also injured in the same accident that took Hutchins’s life, would be among the speakers taking part in the film’s premiere. But it’s also easy to understand Krause’s point: the circumstances under which Rust was made have led to multiple trials and one guilty verdict.

Once the decision was made to complete the making of Rust, there was always going to be a question of how to balance bringing the film to an audience while also honoring Hutchins’s memory. As the response to this screening demonstrates, there may not be a correct answer.