Cancel Culture: Film screening in Cape Town South Africa blocked by censorship
Millions of us must become involved in challenging corporate profiteering
A film festival set to happen in Cape Town South Africa, highlighting the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry, has been cancelled due to pressure on the event venue.
The festival, organised by health freedom groups (Transformative Health Justice, World Council for Health South Africa, and Children’s Health Defense Africa) was set to screen short films. The event included a Q and A with activists against state and pharmaceutical industry corruption, and who champion the rights of the victims.
Ten days ago, the venue was first emailed by Dr James L van Duuren of the People’s Health Movement South Africa, criticising the choice of film to be screened, the filmmaker, organisations involved, and Q and A speakers. van Duuren implied that only industry approved stakeholders should challenge the pharmaceutical complex. He was invited to attend and engage at the event but did not accept the invite.
He did concede that “I am not one of the viewpoint that those in the anti-vaccine community are inherently malicious in their intent. I believe that real valid critiques of "Big Pharma" and dismissive attitudes by the medical establishment towards holistic approaches to health are what drive this misguided and harmful view. “
In other emails, Dr Amy Louise Collyer, working at the Department of Health Western Cape (which takes millions in funding from the notorious Gates Foundation), a social media pressure campaign was threatened “I understand that other doctors/ researchers have attempted to engage you with futility. So I have escalated this professionally, and publicly on social media.”
To avoid further bullying of the venue, given that a third emailer, Dr Stefan C Nel, irrationally raised both the Holocaust and Apartheid to guilt and shame the venue, the film festival event organisors decided to cancel this event, and work on alternative ways to uphold the public’s right to know. This experience sharply spotlighted conflicts of interest in South African health and the blockading of access to information that vaccine victims, due to speak at the event, have a right to.
Activist and bar advocate Sabelo Sibanda said “Despite purporting to be involved in the fight against big pharma, PHM seems to have become gatekeepers, seeking to stifle the legitimate voices of the people. It seems to have endorsed itself as one of the only stakeholders worthy of articulating any position challenging Big Pharma.”
Activist, journalist and lawyer Shabnam Palesa Mohamed said “The pharmaceutical industry has a horrendous track record in South Africa, from drug price-gouging to controversial and harmful trials on African people. Post Covid-19, it is clear that millions of us must become involved in challenging corporate profiteering at the cost of dignity and health, especially in light of the predatory C19 Pfizer contracts.”
Activist, researcher and scientist Fahrie Hassan said “The censorship of films by pharmaceutical industry-funded stakeholders, and the exclusionary attitude of certain groups towards human rights/health freedom organisations has a damaging impact on health, free speech and the right to know. This has severe implications for democracy.”
For more information or to get involved:
The film Infertility A Diabolical Agenda is about an alleged tetanus shot campaign targeting Kenyan girls and women. Here is a comprehensive response to some critique, wherein doctors highlight similar experiments elsewhere.
Other films the public has a right to watch are shared via our various platforms.
The organisors are working on other health advocacy initiatives, events, campaigns and projects. If you would like to support their efforts, please donate
If you would like to attend or be involved in future events, please fill in this form
Do you have relevant links to articles and films? Let us know in the same form.
Resources: Facts about Big Pharma. Please read and share
Internationally, there are several court cases against Big Pharma, including in the US. A list of articles about Big Pharma’s conduct can be found below for sharing:
FILM: Painkiller - Exposes Many Villains of the Opioid Crisis
“This is the origin story of the collision between medicine and money.”
By highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin, the show aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the crisis.
“It’s certainly not just [about] the Sacklers,” Newman says. “It’s the political machine. It’s the pharmaceutical industrial complex. You can’t understand the epidemic unless you look at all of the participants. The people who did it, the people who let it happen, the people who suffered from it — and the people who blew the whistle.”
https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/what-is-painkiller-aboutJustice Department Announces Largest Health Care Fraud Settlement in Its History: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-largest-health-care-fraud-settlement-its-history
Pfizer, Roche cancer drug pricing under investigation in South Africa: https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/pfizer-roche-cancer-drug-pricing-under-investigation-south-africa
Pfizer Admits Bribery in Eight Countries: https://www.corpwatch.org/article/pfizer-admits-bribery-eight-countries
Pfizer has power to 'silence' governments and 'maximize profits', consumer group alleges: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-20/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-contracts/100553958
Pfizer H.C.P. Corp. Agrees to Pay $15 Million Penalty to Resolve Foreign Bribery Investigation: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/pfizer-hcp-corp-agrees-pay-15-million-penalty-resolve-foreign-bribery-investigation
Pfizer pays out to Nigerian families of meningitis drug trial child victims: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/11/pfizer-nigeria-meningitis-drug-compensation
Gender Bias in Antidepressant Ads. 82% Target Women: https://www.madinamerica.com/2023/03/gender-bias-in-direct-to-consumer-antidepressant-ads-82-of-ads-target-women/
Antidepressants and Violence: Problems at the Interface of Medicine and Law: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1564177/
Psychotropic drug prescribing practices for women exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1403494810382815
Why a Judge Ordered FDA to Release Covid-19 Vaccine Data Pronto: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/why-a-judge-ordered-fda-to-release-covid-19-vaccine-data-pronto
An investigation published by The BMJ raises concerns about a revolving door culture between the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Moderna: https://bmjgroup.com/concerns-over-cosy-relationship-between-the-fda-and-moderna/
Medical journals are corrupted by dependence on drug companies. Medical journals are no more than “an extension of the marketing arm of pharmaceutical companies” because a large proportion of their revenue comes from drug advertisements and reprints of company funded trials, claims former BMJ editor, Richard Smith: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC558045/
The puppet she's holding is dressed as a doctor, complete with a stethoscope around its neck. Its strings represent the hidden hand of the pharmaceutical industry. Godlee keeps it on her desk to remind her of the dark forces at work in science and medicine. And she is blunt about the results. "I think we have to call it what it is. It is the corruption of the scientific process." https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/bmj-fiona-godlee-science-1.3541769
Anti-science case study: COVID-19 vaccines’ effectiveness and safety exaggerated: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11153924/