Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ to Premiere in November, Honoring the Late Halyna Hutchins

Alec Baldwin’s film Rust is finally getting a world premiere this November at the Camerimage Festival in Poland, which honors the work of cinematographers and directors of photography.

“Almost three years after the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins, a Ukrainian cinematographer who was part of the festival family, Camerimage is set to honor her memory and remind the world of her legacy,” the festival announced in a press release.

According to director of photography Bianca Cline, who took over for the late Halyna Hutchins after her accidental shooting on the set of the film, the screening will be honoring Hutchins’ “beautiful” work.

“We wanted to do this to honor her and to make sure that people could see what she was working on,” Cline says. “I think that it’s her best film. I think that it’s her most beautiful film, and I’ve seen all of them.”

She also feels that Camerimage is the perfect place for the movie’s premiere.

“What’s cool about the festival is that it’s the most widely known film festival that’s solely focused on cinematography,” says Cline. “And I think that one of the things about the film is that nobody knows anything about Halyna. Everyone just knows about her death, and that’s sad because she’s such a beautiful person and a talented cinematographer.”

Cline adds, “I’m in awe of how much people admired her and just how talented she is. I think that cinematographers sometimes get relegated to being seen as technicians, but I think that Halyna elevated it to an art.”

Cline tells PEOPLE that Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, and sister, Svetlana Zemko, are looking forward to the finished film coming out.

“They’re very excited,” she says of Hutchins’ relatives, who live in Kiev. “Halyna’s mother was probably the biggest champion of the film. She wanted it to be done because she knew how much it meant to Halyna. She told me how excited Halyna was to see the film.”

After the movie’s premiere, there will be a panel discussion with director Joel Souza, Cline, and Stephen Lighthill, Halyna’s mentor from her film school, AFI.

According to the press release, the trio will be talking about “the unique visual style that Halyna developed on set and explain how Bianca Cline, who took over her work, managed to remarkably replicate Halyna’s style.”

The press release adds that the discussion will also touch on important issues in the film industry. Halyna’s story will serve as a starting point for a conversation about the role of women in cinematography and, of course, safety on set.

“All of us are generally aware that we’re kind of in a dangerous position,” says Cline of working in the camera “zone.”

“Her death solidified how dangerous it is. There’s a difference between it feeling dangerous and then it being like, oh yeah, it is very, very dangerous.”

Still, she’s proud to have carried on Hutchins’ vision for Rust and is happy they finished it and are bringing it to the world.

“I think once people see it, that they’ll understand more of why we finished this. I think it’s gotten painted as some sort of low-budget genre film and I think it’s anything but. I think it’s a really beautiful film. It’s Halyna’s best work.”

EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2024 takes place November 16-23.