disease experts and even other filmmakersunless the tribeca film festival plans to definitively unmask andrew wakefield it will be yet another disheartening chapter where a scientific fraud continues to occupy a spotlight and overshadows the damage he has left behind in the important story of vaccine safety and success dr mary anne jackson a professor of pediatrics at the university of missourikansas city said in an emailthe documentary filmmaker penny lane our nixon published on thursday an open letter to the festivals organizers in filmmaker magazine suggesting that including vaxxed in the documentary section threatens the credibility of not just the other filmmakers in your doc slate but the field in generalshe added that while the subject of ethics and truthfulness in a documentary can be uncomfortable 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 hoaxdr william schaffner a professor of preventive medicine at vanderbilt university medical school called the decision to show the film particularly sad because the tribeca festival receives attention far beyond new yorkthe people who put on the tribeca film festival are very prestigious and they draw a very thoughtful audience and its implicit that if they have suggested this film they think that theres some merit in it and more importantly merit to wakefields message dr schaffner said all of us are out talking about it reassuring parents children anyone who wants to pay attention to this issue that vaccines are safe and effective and they certainly do not cause autism and that dr wakefield was a fraud and had his license removed over this very eventaccording to the festivals website vaxxed will be screened only once on april 24 the festivals closing day a talk with the director and the films subjects will follow