April 10, 2016–Telling people not to see an alarming public-health documentary may not be the best strategy to kill it. Perhaps emboldened by recent American censorships of Vaxxed: From Coverup to Catastrophe, the London International Film Festival has pulled AIDS documentary Positive Hell, according to veteran journalist, author and filmmaker Joan Shenton. (We reported on the film in Episodes 72 and 96, and posted a link to a discussion on “The Progressive Film Hour.“) The festival organizer admitted he acted under pressure from LGBT student groups at the university where he teaches.
UPDATE, April 11, 2016–DANGEROUS, ILLICIT, NAUGHTY, FREE viewing: Watch Positive Hell (28 minutes) anyway. (No, don’t. Please, you’ll feel better if you don’t. . . . it’ll hurt others’ feelings . . . don’t even think about it . . . you’re not thinking about it, are you? Mind Police! Open up!) UPDATE, September 8, 2016–It happened again. Another London film festival pulled Positive Hell from its lineup, this time the Portobello. Read our update HERE and “How Positive Are You” co-host Elizabeth Ely’s essay at “The Truth Barrier,” and watch Shenton’s passionate defense of her film on “London Live” HERE.
Meanwhile, former “How Positive Are You” co-host Celia Farber is posting fascinating daily updates on the rapidly failing attempt to censor Vaxxed, so click on over to The Truth Barrier. UPDATE, April 11, 2016–Shenton gets her day in the media at “The Truth Barrier,” and she is devastating to this pretense of an “independent” film festival. How, indeed, do LGBT “activists” benefit from silencing positive stories of HIV survival? (Answer: They collect money.)
Vaxxed filmmakers responded to its March 26 boot from the Tribeca Film Festival by putting it into cinematic distribution. Already, New York’s Angelika Film Center is holding it over for a second week. “The Truth Barrier” reports that five future screenings at the Los Angeles premiere had already sold out as of Saturday. Actor and Tribeca founder Robert De Niro has even hinted that he might encourage other screenings.
Meanwhile, the 49th Annual WorldFest-Houston removed the film from its lineup Tuesday after admitting, unusually frankly, that it faced a loss of at least $100,000 in funding after “very threatening calls.” Reports soon surfaced that these might have come from Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County “Judge” Ed Emmett. Local free-speech activists are already protesting. An article by vaccine activist Ginger Taylor identifies Emmett’s wife, Gwen, as a member of the Executive Committee of a group called The Immunization Partnership.
By the way, does anybody actually watch movies anymore before declaring that they are “dangerous”? Taylor’s e-mail to the mayor’s office quotes their responses in boldface:
Has anyone at your office viewed the film so they know what the film is about? No. We are aware of the film’s content from media coverage including this story: http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/anti-vaccination-doc-vaxxed-booted-from-tribeca-is-a-tragic-fraud-8302709.
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If your office has not screened the film, will you be viewing it? No.
After these conversation with the right nice folks down at the “judge’s” office and the ruder, but just as dumb, ones at City Hall, Taylor believes she has uncovered a “more insidious” recruiting of allies:
They expand the corruption, and gain new defenders, by lying to naive parties who don’t know they are defending fraud and corruption, thereby implicating them in the fraud and corruption, and then forcing them to defend CDC fraud by defending themselves.
If this sounds similar to how AIDS organizations operate, well, we’ve noticed that too.
Vaxxed is not, as most media have reported, an anti-vaccination film. It shows how CDC researchers omitted data from an important CDC study on the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, and covered it up. It asks the U.S. Congress to subpoena a CDC whistleblower, Dr. William Thompson, in order to take action to ensure safer vaccines.
Are the defenders of vaccine coverups creating their own backlash? Media personality Barry Farber — Celia’s father — summed it all up nicely, and we can’t resist quoting it: “The correct prayer is not, We Shall Overcome. It’s They Shall Overreach.” The revolution may not be televised, but it sure is lighting up the Internet and selling out in theaters.
See these films. Partly because somebody told you not to, but mainly because you deserve to know the truth:
Positive Hell in London (tickets must be reserved in advance): Sunday, April 17, 2016, Shortwave Cinema, 10 Bermondsey Square, London. A small number of press tickets are reserved for accredited journalists, and film or arts reviewers. To request a ticket, e-mail joanshenton@clara.co.uk or call 07957 585515.
(Our previous posts on Vaxxed appear HERE and HERE.)