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‘I wish I’d never written that damn movie’: Rust director Joel Souza on finishing his film after the fatal on-set shooting

He was hit by the same bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The film-maker talks about his hopes for his western, his complicated feelings towards star Alec Baldwin – and why the industry hasn’t learned

In October 2021 he was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on the set of his sixth feature, the western Rust, when a gun being held by the film’s star, Alec Baldwin, was discharged accidentally during rehearsals. It’s a solid piece of work, gorgeously photographed by Hutchins and Bianca Cline, the latter shooting the 50% or so of scenes that hadn’t been completed, as well as the ones that needed to be reshot as some of the original actors were no longer available. If you apply ‘How can we make it better?’ to every aspect of life, one small act at a time, then maybe this place can finally live up to its potential and its purpose.” In the context of Rust, the question takes on a promise of healing: an attempt to draw something positive from the horror of what happened.

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