The Source Family (2013)
Studio: Drag City 
Theatrical Release: May 1, 2013
Directors: Maria Demopoulos and Jodi Wille
Not Rated
Review by Richard Rey
The Source Family is a ‘70s acid-trip down the Sunset Strip headed by a psychedelic sage-guru in a Rolls Royce named Father Yod. This well-archived stranger-than-fiction documentary about an idiosyncratic counterculture in Southern California will leave you jamming out to space rock and wondering why you hadn’t met the groove group sooner.
It all started with a health food restaurant. After a few bank robberies and the miserable failure of three of his organic restaurants due to heavy drug-use, Jim Baker cleaned up his act and opened The Source Restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in 1969. As one of the first restaurateur-purveyors of natural food, the ex-Judo-champ-turned-spiritual-hipster quickly found his venue at the center of attention, drawing the likes of such celebrities as Goldie Hawn, Steve McQueen, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Joni Mitchell to its seasonal menu. By 1971, Baker had taken on a new role - that of an earthy spiritual father figure to the paternal-seeking children of the Sunset Strip who affectionately called him Father Yod.
By interviewing both outsiders and dozens of members within the Family, directors Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos go to great lengthsto preserve a fair telling of The Source Family and its enigmatic founder, Father Yod. The documentary is replete with archival footage and photographs from Family record keeper-historian Isis Aquarian, one of Yod’s 13+ wives, and author of the book The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13 and The Source Family upon which the film is based. Peppered with sound clips of the charismatic teacher Father Yod himself and a soundtrack from Ya Ho Wa 13 – a rock band made of members of the cult – this documentary somehow manages to successfully portray the man and his family of 140 while leaving the soapbox and loudspeaker in the basement.
From its organic beginnings to its eventual demise in Hawaii in 1975, The Source Family shows how one man turned sex, drugs, and rock’ n’ roll into a religion that resulted in such radical practices as sex magic, the prohibition of medicine, staring at the sun for hours on end and his followers calling him God in the flesh. The new neighbors just moved into the Hollywood mansion next door en masse, offering the most in-depth look into a ‘70s cult group ever. A must-see, highly entertaining thoroughly engrossing film.
[Rating: 5]
Theatrical Release: May 1, 2013
Directors: Maria Demopoulos and Jodi Wille
Not Rated
Review by Richard Rey
The Source Family is a ‘70s acid-trip down the Sunset Strip headed by a psychedelic sage-guru in a Rolls Royce named Father Yod. This well-archived stranger-than-fiction documentary about an idiosyncratic counterculture in Southern California will leave you jamming out to space rock and wondering why you hadn’t met the groove group sooner.
It all started with a health food restaurant. After a few bank robberies and the miserable failure of three of his organic restaurants due to heavy drug-use, Jim Baker cleaned up his act and opened The Source Restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in 1969. As one of the first restaurateur-purveyors of natural food, the ex-Judo-champ-turned-spiritual-hipster quickly found his venue at the center of attention, drawing the likes of such celebrities as Goldie Hawn, Steve McQueen, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Joni Mitchell to its seasonal menu. By 1971, Baker had taken on a new role - that of an earthy spiritual father figure to the paternal-seeking children of the Sunset Strip who affectionately called him Father Yod.
By interviewing both outsiders and dozens of members within the Family, directors Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos go to great lengthsto preserve a fair telling of The Source Family and its enigmatic founder, Father Yod. The documentary is replete with archival footage and photographs from Family record keeper-historian Isis Aquarian, one of Yod’s 13+ wives, and author of the book The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13 and The Source Family upon which the film is based. Peppered with sound clips of the charismatic teacher Father Yod himself and a soundtrack from Ya Ho Wa 13 – a rock band made of members of the cult – this documentary somehow manages to successfully portray the man and his family of 140 while leaving the soapbox and loudspeaker in the basement.
From its organic beginnings to its eventual demise in Hawaii in 1975, The Source Family shows how one man turned sex, drugs, and rock’ n’ roll into a religion that resulted in such radical practices as sex magic, the prohibition of medicine, staring at the sun for hours on end and his followers calling him God in the flesh. The new neighbors just moved into the Hollywood mansion next door en masse, offering the most in-depth look into a ‘70s cult group ever. A must-see, highly entertaining thoroughly engrossing film.
[Rating: 5]
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