The Trial of Alec Baldwin, a powerful verité documentary feature for which the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy was granted exclusive access to the titular star in the aftermath of the 2021 accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust, has been acquired by Abramorama for a North American release and awards campaign, The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively report.
The film, for which Kennedy spent years filming Baldwin, and which features powerful footage from the set of Rust and from Baldwin’s police interrogation and the legal proceedings that followed, will open in New York on Oct. 1 at Village East by Angelika, then premiere in Los Angeles on Oct. 15 at the Laemmle Monica, and go on to a week-long Oscar-qualifying engagement at the Laemmle Noho 7 before expanding to theaters across the country.
“The Trial of Alec Baldwin doesn’t shy away from complexity or discomfort,” Karol Martesko-Fenster, CEO of AB2 Media Group and Abramorama, tells THR. “Rory and her [life and producing] partner Mark Bailey have crafted a film that goes beyond the headlines to ask hard questions about how we assign blame, process tragedy, and judge public figures in real time. We’re honored to partner with them in bringing this story to theaters.”
Adds Kennedy and Bailey, “We felt this was an important story for our times, a vital story about the state of our judicial system. Alec is an enduring and undeniably significant figure in Hollywood, and the trial surrounding Rust raised questions well beyond the events that transpired on set. Alongside Abramorama, we are eager to bring this documentary to theater audiences so that the broader public can grapple with the complex questions at the heart of the film.”
Hutchins was a 42-year-old up-and-coming cinematographer who was lensing the low-budget indie Rust, which Baldwin was starring in and a producer of, when she was killed by a prop gun that Baldwin was handed and instructed to point towards the camera. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, which was deeply traumatizing for everyone involved, virtually no one doubted that it was a terrible accident. But soon thereafter, questions of responsibility, guilt, blame, punishment and justice began to ripple through the media, fueled by the polarizing public persona of Baldwin, a talented actor and troubled celebrity adored by some and hated by others — attitudes which come into play even at his trial.
