TVP World caught up with Souza at the 32nd Camerimage Film Festival in the Polish city of Toruń ahead of Rust’s global premiere at the event.
The film, which Souza said was inspired by his grandfather’s love of Western novels, hit the headlines in 2021 when Ukrainian-born cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on set in a shooting incident involving its star, Alec Baldwin.
Souza said that during the year following the accident, there were discussions about whether or not to finish the film.
“It's just something I wasn't interested in,” he said. “I honestly didn't know if I was even ever going to make movies again at all, if I wanted to do it anymore.”
He said he heard later that Hutchins’ family wanted the film to be finished so that her work could be shared with the world.
“And once I started to think about that, what had been sort of the most difficult decision of my life started to become a much easier decision, because what the family wants was what mattered most to me.”
Souza said that even if some people do not agree with the decision to finish the film, he hopes they will at least listen to his reasons.
A panel discussion on safety on set was scheduled as part of the Camerimage festival, which is focused on cinematography.
“Safety is the most important thing in any workplace,” Souza said. “We love movies. Movies are art. We live for it. But no movie is worth someone being harmed, much less killed.”
Click on the video above to see the full interview.
