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

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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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8 thoughts on “Video of the Day – Producer of Vaccine Documentary Banned From Tribeca Film Festival Speaks Out”

  1. “people are questioning certain preservatives that were added to vaccines, specifically thimerosal.”

    People are questioning a lot more than that Mike and for good reason. When pharmaceutical companies destroy any trust the public had in them, people begin to question everything about their products. Are all vaccines effective? Are only some of them effective? Which vaccines are dangerous? How many vaccines can one take in a given period of time before there is some risk? How have we gone from 7 recommended vaccines in the 50’s to over 20 recommended today?

    People claim the antivax crowd are threatening public safety but the real threat to public safety are the pharma companies who destroyed any trust the public had in their products. How are we now suppose to know which vaccines are truly effective or necessary if the truth is being manipulated in pursuit of profits.

    Reply
    • Population control while making giant profits, that’s what is all about. US population will systematically be reduced from 320 to 70 million people in the next decade.

    • Well said Alex, destruction of trust in the pharmaceutical industry and in my opinion every single industry, corporation and branch of government. These entities do that one thing well, destroy trust.

  2. Many good “FILL IN THE BLANKS” ON THIS ISSUE, THAT WERE LEFT OUT OF THIS POST…(?) CAN BE FOUND OUT BY READING AN EXCELLENT BOOK…DR. MARY’S MONKEY BY ED HASLAM. Then decide…spoiler alert…what you read will NOT make you happy and WILL ruin your day!!!!!

    Reply
  3. Its a broader issue where science is held to ransom by the state, pharmaceutical industry and PR/Media control.

    A lot of debate is around concepts like “facts”, “scientific truth” are controlled neatly to bundle people into “anti-vaxxers” and “responsible parents”. We are told that Vaccines work (well 60-70% of the time) and those who don’t vaccinate cause bloom effects due to the PR term of herd immunity – which any statistic analysis on a percentage possibility multiplied doesn’t equal 100%. Yet stories are told that it is still those who aren’t jabbed with non-human inactive, dead and active virus are some how causing out breaks. Even though that concept is fear mongering.

    Vaccines don’t even have to have proper safety scientific controls like double blind tests as they are not classified as a drug, they are classified as a medical safety like a bandaid/plaster – thus no batch controls, no on going safety tests, the removal of the vaccine injury records – doctors don’t even record or examine injuries anymore. So there is no data on the side effect anymore.

    If you work as a Doctor and show concerns for safety you will be ridiculed and possibly lose your license – like a heretic.

    Michael do you know how many studies have gone into long term tests of the safety and effectiveness of vaccines? None outside of the industry? Less than a handful. Or when a study like the MMR vaccine showing link to Autism from that UK Doctor, it is peer reviewed and declared heresy – yet no follow up study was done. Try getting funding to do a study into the various safety issues around vaccines, you won’t. Science is controlled by the funding $.

    The history of that industry using heavy PR tactics, burying negative results and even controlling the studies to give a positive result – manipulation of test subjects results and more. They commit scientific fraud and we are ok with them jabing monkey virus into our children? Lets not even results how vaccines have been used in the third world but the espionage agencies for very dubious purposes.

    How is shutting down debate positive? Removing any evidence of vaccine injuries scientific? How is using public opinion to embed “scientific truths”, when there is logically no truth in science or even a “fact”?

    Now we are leading to a time where vaccines are unlawfully being forced onto children and parents – that how it is effectively done in Australia now with the removal of benefits if you don’t. So how can we say its science if it is being pushed with fascist intentions.

    Thanks Michael. Peace and respect

    Elliot

    Reply

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