VAXXED: Banned Again From Another Festival, Advertising In Newspaper PULLED!
THE TRIBECA PRECEDENT: “VAXXED” CENSORED AGAIN
WORLDFEST-HOUSTON FILM FESTIVAL FORCED TO CANCEL SCREENING
THEN VILLAGE VOICE CANCELS ADVERTISING
LOS ANGELES, CA (April 7, 2016) Following the successful premiere of “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” at the Angelika Film Center this weekend, the censorship continues of the documentary film that examines a CDC Whistleblower, William Thompson and the data concealed and destroyed by the U.S. Government’s health watchdog agency. Yesterday, the film was banned from the WorldFest-Houston Film Festival and then the Village Voice canceled ads and sent out an email retraction following a paid email blast.
As was reported by InfoWars today, the founder of the WorldFest-Houston, which was one of the first festivals to reach out to the distributor after it was banned from the Tribeca Film Festival, had to withdraw its offer yesterday due to pressures from sponsors and city officials.
Later yesterday, after a paid advertising email blast promoting the film was sent to the Village Voice’s Film list, the Editor sent out an unprecedented and factually incorrect retraction:
Earlier today we sent a promotional email that included advertising for the movie Vaxxed, causing some confusion about whether we support the film’s position that vaccinations can cause autism and other developmental problems in children. We want to be very clear that the Voice vehemently disagrees with that position, and believes it to be contrary to the vast majority of scientific information on the subject.
We believe vaccinations are an essential safeguard of the public health for New York City and the world in general.
Please forgive the interruption of your day and thanks for reading the Village Voice.
Will Bourne
Editor-in-Chief
The Village Voice
The film is not “anti-vaccine,” as has been stated repeatedly by the filmmakers. After the print ad in the Village Voice was published (which hit newsstands today) and the promotional e-blast was sent to subscribers the retracted, Cinema Libre Studio was informed that the remaining part of the ad campaign, which included digital banner ads, was not going to run
Philippe Diaz, Chairman of Cinema Libre Studio says, “As I explained to the directors of Tribeca, their decision has created a huge precedent in the filmmaking world. Film festivals are no longer a space for free speech, but a place run by sponsors and corporate interests. It sends the message to filmmakers that they better make movies “approved” by corporate sponsors so they’ll have more of a chance to be selected and therefore find a way to sell their films. We should never forget that the life of an independent film depends very often on festivals. If festivals can act as censors for corporate interests, it’s a slap in the face to the First Amendment.”
Head of Distribution Richard Castro says, “There have been movies released theatrically in this country that have been far more controversial, but this film is the target of a whole new level of organized suppression. The most outrageous part of all this censorship is that it’s based on a completely false perception of the film. The film is not anti-vaccine but rather advocates for the use of the single measles, single mumps and single rubella vaccines instead of the MMR triple vaccine which has been linked to autism by the CDC study which is at the heart of this film. This film continues to be misrepresented as ‘anti-vaccine’ in an effort to suppress the information it presents. Mainstream journalists need to start asking why that is and allow people to have the discussion.”
“Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” opened on Friday April 1 at the Angelika Film Center earning a significant 3 day gross of $28,339.75 after it was de-selected from the Tribeca Film Festival the week before.
The film will hold for a second week at the Angelika Film Center, then will premiere in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Film Center on April 15 before platforming to other markets. It will have its first international festival as the Festival Director’s Special Selection at the 3rd annual Silver Springs International Film Festival in Ocala, Florida on Sunday, April 10th and it will also screen at the Manhattan Film Festival on April 24th, the same day it was originally set to premiere at Tribeca. The film will continue to roll out in theatres across the country.
“Vaxxed” investigates how the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the government agency charged with protecting the health of American citizens, concealed and destroyed data on their 2004 study that showed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The information was revealed by a Senior Scientist at the CDC, William Thompson, to Dr. Brian Hooker. This alarming deception has contributed to the skyrocketing increase of autism, potentially the most catastrophic epidemic of our lifetime.
