Video of the Day – Producer of Vaccine Documentary Banned From Tribeca Film Festival Speaks Out

Before getting into this post, I want to reiterate something I wrote in my last article on the topic, published last year:

I want to start off this post by making it clear that I’m not remotely anti-vaccine. Personally, I chose to receive a Hepatitis A shot prior to my Asia travels last winter, and I also recently received a TDAP booster in order to reduce the risk of transferring pertussis to my newborn son, which can be quite dangerous if contracted by babies.

So while I’m not anti-vaccine, that doesn’t mean I trust the pharmaceutical industry or the U.S. government to keep me safe. This is where VAXXED, the vaccine documentary banned by the Tribeca Film Festival, comes into play. While all the controversy surrounding the film has centered on director Andrew Wakefield who was stripped of his medical license, the film’s producer is clear to point out that the film actually focuses on the testimony of CDC whistleblower Dr. William Thomson.

As such, I found the following interview of VAXXED producer, Del Bigtree quiet interesting:

Dr. Thomson’s testimony was covered in last year’s piece, Vaccine Whistleblower Gave Congress Thousands of Documents, Claims CDC Destroyed Proof of MMR-Autism Link:

The corruption has also poisoned CDC’s immunization safety office, the research arm that tests vaccines for safety and efficacy. In August 2014, seventeen year CDC veteran, Dr. William Thompson, who is author of the principal study cited by CDC to exculpate mercury preserved vaccines from the autism link, invoked whistleblower protection, and turned extensive agency files over to Congress. (20) Thompson, who is still employed at CDC, says that for the past decade his superiors have pressured him and his fellow scientists to lie and manipulate data about the safety of the mercury based preservative, thimerosal, to conceal its causative link to a suite of brain injuries, including autism. (21) (22)

This is where people get confused. Nobody is claiming that the science behind vaccines is faulty or dangerous, people are questioning certain preservatives that were added to vaccines, specifically thimerosal.

Shortly after the interview above was conducted, VAXXED was banned from the Tribeca Film Festival after tremendous pressure came down upon Robert DeNiro, who has an autistic child and had defended a showing of the film until the very last moment. Personally, I haven’t seen the film, and I can’t tell you whether it’s good or a heaping pile of rubbish; however, I found the apoplectic panic attack surrounding the screening of a little film to be noteworthy — and I’m not the only one.

As the New York Times recently reported, VAXXED was shown in NYC last Friday, and plenty of people showed up to see it.

From the New York Times article, Anti-Vaccine Film, Pulled From Tribeca Film Festival, Draws Crowd at Showing:

A roiling controversy over the truthfulness and intent of a documentary about the widely debunked link between vaccines and autism did not keep theatergoers away from its premiere on Friday. Several dozen people (and more than a handful of reporters) arrived for the first showing of “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” at the Angelika Film Center in Manhattan, along with a producer and co-writer of the film, and some of its distributors.

The movie, about the supposed connection between autism and vaccines, had been accepted for a screening later this month at the Tribeca Film Festival and then suddenly removed amid criticism. Robert De Niro, a founder of the festival, initially supported the showing but then decided to drop it, saying that upon reviewing it with scientific professionals, he felt it would not contribute to a positive discussion about public health issues.

Still, moviegoers were eager to see it on Friday. Bonnie Peters drove from Palm City, Fla. “Regardless of whether your stance is pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, you should have the opportunity to know all the facts,” said Ms. Peters, 66, who described herself as “more pro-information,” and who has two grandsons with autism. “I want to see both sides of the story,” she said. She left the screening in tears.

Dr. Thompson’s voice is in the film, in conversations recorded without his knowledge (as the film notes). He is still employed by the C.D.C. and would not comment. In 2014, he released a statement saying that while he questioned the 2004 study’s presentation of some data, he would never advise people not to get vaccinated.

What I’m still having trouble getting my head around is why a documentary that is apparently so easily disproven and full of garbage poses such a threat to so many powerful people. Indeed, the film’s critics should be thrilled about an opportunity to discredit the film publicly, and the total panic generated by the simple screening of a movie is what I find so bizarre and noteworthy.

Perhaps it’s partly due to the following, which was noted in a recent article critical of the film published by the Hollywood Reporter:

It’s all effective, but also purely anecdotal. It’s more interesting to learn that drug manufacturers are protected by federal law from customer lawsuits claiming adverse effects from vaccines, and that injury claims are handled by a particular U.S. court that is commonly known as the “Vaccine Court,” a term that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

No, it certainly doesn’t.

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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