Robert DeNiro defends anti-vaccination documentary at Tribeca Film Festival: 'It is critical that causes are examined'

DeNiro, whose son has autism, did not ask for the film to be screened but says it provides 'an opportunity for a conversation'

Robert DeNiro at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015. (Grant Lamos IV/Getty)

Robert DeNiro has defended the inclusion of a controversial anti-vaccination documentary in the Tribeca Film Festival by claiming it will encourage a discussion around the causes of autism.

Vaxxed: From Cover-Up To Catastrophe, is directed by Andrew Wakefield, the British former doctor who lost his license to practice medicine after his discredited study on a link between the MMR vaccine and autism was retracted from the British medical journal The Lancet in 2010.

DeNiro, one of the founders of the festival, responded to the contention around Vaxxed's inclusion in a statement on the festival’s Facebook page. The Silver Linings Playbook actor stressed that he is not personally endorsing the film and denied being against vaccination. However, he said the issue is a very personal one for him and his family as his son has 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," the statement reads. "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.”

The debate around vaccination is an incredibly polarising one. The actor Jim Carrey, whose son also has autism, has campaigned against vaccines and reacted furiously to new vaccine legislation in California in 2015 by posting pictures of an autistic child in a bizarre Twitter rant. He later apologised to the child's parents.