Screening Dates
  • June 9, 2022 6:30
Video Intro by Jodi Wille

“This magnetic pop-history memorial has everything: free sex, celebrity, psychedelic rock, polygamy, and beyond.”

Michael Atkinson, Time Out

The Source Family documents the eponymous 1970s Hollywood commune, led by their charismatic leader Father Yod (James Edward Baker), a self-professed guru and suspected bank robber. The Family’s outlandish style, popular Los Angeles health food restaurant, prolific psychedelic rock band (Ya Ho Wa 13 13), and beautiful devotees made them the darlings of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, but their radical ideals and the unconventional behaviour of their spiritual leader caused controversy with local authorities and fractured the group’s internal dynamics. The true story—largely unexamined in the thirty-five years following Father Yod’s spectacular hang-gliding death in 1975—is revealed here by the members themselves, told through extensive home movies, photographs, documents, and interviews with several members.

Join us after the screening for a live theremin performance by Stephen Hamm Theremin Man!

“Anyone interested in the appeal of cults and the psychological lure of a charismatic leader will appreciate The Source Family.” Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times

“An object lesson in psychological manipulation … Sharp, spacey, nostalgic, and heartbreaking.” Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

The Source Family screens in conjunction with ​“The Unarius Academy of Science,” an evening of Unarius films, curated by Jodi Wille, presented in partnership with Fillip.

Fillip
Media
Note

Jodi Wille is a filmmaker, curator, and book publisher known for her work exploring subcultures. She co-directed The Source Family (2012), a documentary on the eponymous 1970s Los Angeles utopian commune, and is in production on a new feature documentary, Welcome, Space Brothers, about the Unarius Academy of Science. Wille co-founded the book publishing companies Process Media and Dilettante Press, and served as editor of several award-winning books. She has curated art exhibitions for The American Visionary Art Museum, Deitch Projects, and The London Photographer’s Gallery.

Stephen Hamm has been a pivotal member of the Vancouver music and arts scenes for over twenty-five years. He’s played in bands including Slow, Canned Hamm, and Nardwuar and the Evaporators. In recent years, Hamm has shifted his focus to mastering the theremin, studying under the tutelage of German theremin virtuoso Carolina Eyck and New York-based thereminist Dorit Chrysler.