Film legend Robert De Niro is standing by a decision to screen a film that critics call anti-vaccine propaganda, turning one of modern medicine’s most divisive issues into a conversation about artistic license and censorship.
“VAXXED: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” purports to examine “the long-debated link between autism and vaccines … to understand what’s behind the skyrocketing increase of autism diagnoses today.”
The Oscar-winning star of “Raging Bull,” “Taxi Driver” and “Goodfellas” is a co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, one of the country’s largest showcases of independent cinema. Physicians and filmmakers say “VAXXED” is not worthy of the festival’s platform and that its entry in the documentary category not only threatens the credibility of other filmmakers but also perpetuates what is widely considered a hoax in the medical community.
That the film was made by the person blamed by some and credited by others for the anti-vaccine movement makes it propaganda, not documentary film, critics say.
Director Andrew Wakefield was stripped of his medical license in 2010 for linking autism to childhood vaccines in a now-discredited study published in 1998. Studies since then have found no such link, and an investigation by the British medical journal BMJ in 2011 found Wakefield’s study was an “elaborate fraud” that falsified data in a “deliberate attempt” to create an impression of a link.
Award-winning documentary director Penny Lane wrote an open letter saying the festival “made a very serious mistake” in deciding to screen the film.
“While it is true that we documentary filmmakers constantly debate vexing questions about the perceived and real differences between our work and the work of traditional journalism, I assure you that we are not debating whether it is okay to knowingly spread dangerous lies,” Lane wrote in the letter in Filmmaker Magazine.
“Issues around truth and ethics in documentary can get thorny. But this one is easy. This film is not some sort of disinterested investigation into the ‘vaccines cause autism’ hoax; this film is directed by the person who perpetuated the hoax.”
In a statement on the festival’s Facebook page, De Niro, who has a child with autism, said he hopes the film sparks dialogue about “the causes of autism.”
“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. 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.”
Comments on the Facebook post reflected the medical debate as well as issues related to censorship.
“Why shouldn’t there be discussion around this? This is supposed to be a country of free speech. When people come out so adamantly opposed to something, it makes you wonder why. If this film is filled with lies and misinformation, I trust the public to be discerning enough to make up their own mind,” one commenter said.
“It is a film festival and this deserves to be screened as it will open up discussion. That’s what’s so wonderful about filmmaking — creating dialogue. Kudos to the programmers for selecting this. Don’t let close-minded people bully the decision that’s been made,” another commenter said.
Others weren’t so sure the discussion needs to continue.
“To say that discussion has not been ongoing before this obvious bit of propaganda is screened is intellectually dishonest. The discussion has been going on for decades and the answer has remained the same. There is no valid science that backs a vaccine-autism link. None,” another commenter said.
The film’s synopsis says it includes interviews with “pharmaceutical insiders, doctors, politicians, and parents of vaccine-injured children,” leading some to point out the lack of pro-vaccine voices or autism experts.
“If you want a discussion, why are there no vaccine or autism experts involved with the movie or on the discussion panel? Why only people who are basing their careers on spreading discredited, disproven anti-vaccine myths?” another Facebook commenter said.
Filmmakers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The screening is scheduled for April 24, to be followed by a panel discussion with creators and subjects of the film — minus Wakefield.
“I know that some people will say I’m advocating censorship when I say this. I appreciate that concern. The last thing I would want is for festivals to stop being bold, independent tastemakers afraid of controversy. And I would never suggest banning the film is some global sense (as if that were even possible!),” Lane wrote.
“But the problem is not that ‘Vaxxed ‘is controversial, or even that it’s deceptive,” she continued. “Honestly, I consider a large number of well-made, popular documentary films fairly deceptive. The problem is that it is dangerous misinformation being legitimized under the banner of your considerable prestige.”