Although the HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland" has not yet been released publicly, it was screened for the first time last week and delves into claims by two men who are now in their 30s, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, that Jackson sexually molested them when they were children.
According to multiple sources, the documentary, which will be released on HBO and Britain's Channel 4 television network this spring, received a standing ovation at the festival Friday.
On Monday, Jackson's family released a statement censuring the film. The singer, who died in 2009, is survived by his mother and nine siblings.
"Michael always turned the other cheek, and we have always turned the other cheek when people have gone after members of our family — that is the Jackson way," the statement said. "But we can't just stand by while this public lynching goes on, and the vulture tweeters and others who never met Michael go after him."
The statement also goes on to add that Jackson's family is "furious that the media, who without a shred of proof or single piece of physical evidence, chose to believe the word of two admitted liars over the word of hundreds of families and friends around the world who spent time with Michael, many at Neverland, and experienced his legendary kindness and global generosity."
The Michael Jackson estate also condemned the documentary, releasing a statement Monday claiming that it is "blatantly one-sided."
However, in a statement earlier this month, the film's director, Dan Reed, said there was no doubt regarding the validity of the men's claims.
"If there's anything we've learned during this time in our history, it's that sexual abuse is complicated, and survivors' voices need to be listened to," he said in a statement released this month.
In 2005, Jackson was acquitted in a criminal trial in California, after he was accused of molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo.
The trial, which lasted almost 18 months, found Jackson not guilty on four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor in order to molest him, one count of attempted child molestation and one count of conspiring to hold the boy captive at his Neverland Ranch (Jackson's property in Santa Barbara County, California).
Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009, at a Los Angeles hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest and going into a coma. His death was caused by "acute propofol intoxication" in combination with sedatives.
