Rust, starring Alec Baldwin, premieres three years after fatal on-set ...

Western film Rust has quietly premiered at a Polish film festival, three years after an on-set shooting left a worker dead, its director injured and Hollywood star Alec Baldwin facing involuntary manslaughter charges.

The film — which in a case of tragic irony, centres around an accidental killing — screened on Wednesday night at the low-profile Camerimage Film Festival.

Rust's production hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2021, when Mr Baldwin was holding a revolver during a rehearsal in New Mexico, and a live round was fired.

The Cameraimage film festival is focused on showcasing the work of cinematographers. (Reuters: Kuba Stezycki)

The movie's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed, while its director Joel Souza was injured.

Speaking before the film's premiere, Mr Souza said he was initially "on the fence" about releasing the film, and the fallout had taken an emotional toll.

"There was a time when I thought I just didn't want to make movies anymore," he said.

"Rust just became this sort of insane hurricane … You're just left to sort of pick up the pieces." 

Mr Souza says the shooting made him almost give up on filmmaking. (Reuters: Kuba Stezycki)

A church scene they were working on when Ms Hutchins was shot was written out of the film, he said.

Mr Souza also says the film's plot may be "unsettling" to viewers, particularly because Rust's plot parallels its off-set notoriety.

It tells the story of an outlaw who rides to rescue his 13-year-old grandson from execution for an accident being treated as murder.

"When people hear about it, they generally fall silent for a few moments because they can't believe (it)," he said.

Mr Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter over the incident.

But the trial spectacularly collapsed in July this year after it was revealed prosecutors had not provided a batch of bullets to detectives during the investigation.

Ms Hutchins had been named as one of the industry's rising stars by American Cinematographer magazine, two years before her death on the set of Rust.

The film's armourer, Hannah Gutierrez, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter for accidentally loading Mr Baldwin's prop gun with a live round.

Filming was halted by the fatal incident, but completed last year on location in Montana.

Speaking on why he decided to complete the film after the tragedy, Mr Souza said he was motivated after learning that Ms Hutchins's husband had wanted her final work to be seen.

"The cinematography is stunning and I hope people can appreciate that," he said.

The film festival, Camerimage, also touted that it was Ms Hutchins's dream for her work to be shown at the festival, while adding that Mr Baldwin would not attend the premiere.

Ms Hutchins's mother, Olga Solovey, would also not be attending, refusing an invitation because "there is still no justice for my daughter".

"Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologise to me and take responsibility for her death," she said on Tuesday.

Ms Hutchins was recognised as a rising star in Hollywood before her death. (Instagram: HalynaHutchins)

While it is becoming more common for special effects to be used for gunfire, so-called prop firearms can be easier and cheaper to use.

These can vary from rubber toys to a real firearms that fire blank rounds.

The incident on the set of Rust, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico, led to new guidelines for how Hollywood treated prop firearms.

The shooting paused filming of Rust for two years. (AP: Jae C. Hong)

Prior to 2021, Actor Equity Association guidelines required guns be test-fired off stage before use by an actor.

Although new Hollywood guidelines now specify that only an armourer can hand a weapon to an actor, Mr Souza said the new guidelines still didn't "go far enough".

"I think they should mandate that no real weapons be used," he said.

AFP/Reuters