'Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe' became a subject of debate and controversy especially after the actor decided to screen it at the film festival.
- Mar 27, 2016
AceShowbiz - After defending his choice to include anti-vaccination film on Tribeca Film Festival, Robert De Niro was forced to cancel his decision. Andrew Wakefield's "Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe" has been officially pulled out of the lineup on Saturday, March 26 after the film got hit by criticism from filmmakers.
De Niro, a co-founder of the film festival, said in a statement, "My intent in screening this film was to provide an opportunity for conversation around an issue that is deeply personal to me and my family. But after reviewing it over the past few days with the Tribeca Film Festival team and others from the scientific community, we do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for."
The statement continued, "The Festival doesn't seek to avoid or shy away from controversy. However, we have concerns with certain things in this film that we feel prevent us from presenting it in the Festival program. We have decided to remove it from our schedule."
Wakefield was a doctor who switched profession to filmmaker. He was a big believer that vaccination contributed to autism. On Tribeca website, the film picks the subject of his study that "would catapult Wakefield into becoming one of the most controversial figures in the history of medicine." One of the serious backlashes came from director Penny Lane who called Wakefield "the widely discredited and dangerous anti-vaccination quack."
De Niro did not endorse the content but he was supportive of the screening at his festival. "Grace and I have a child with autism and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined. In the 15 years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming," he said on Friday.
"However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening VAXXED. I am not personally endorsing the film, nor am I anti-vaccination; I am only providing the opportunity for a conversation around the issue."
