Synopsis: This intimate and eloquent documentary traces the unorthodox path of Daniel Smith – eccentric musician, visual artist and devout Christian – as he creates a musical phenomenon with siblings and friends under the name Danielson Famile, eventually struggling to realize his own identity as an artist once the family members begin their own adult lives. Along the way he mentors an unknown singer-songwriter named Sufjan Stevens, whose subsequent success stands in contrast to the music world's uneasy reception of Danielson just a few years earlier. Combining hybrid storytelling, essential live performances, animated sequences and a dollop of Danielson archives, director JL Aronson offers a provocative yet subtle look at a complex life outside the mainstream.

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States of America

Production Year: 2006

Reviews:

• "Elvis had his lascivious hips. Dylan had his electricity. Here's a rock rebel whose rebellion is the result of faith, imagination, and a stable, encouraging home life. It takes a pretty impressive film not to stumble over such rich contradictions. Danielson observes each one with grace, optimism, and curiosity. ", The Stranger (Seattle)
• "With a penchant for wearing costumes (anything from nurses' outfits to tree trunks), the imaginative, sometimes caterwauling family group is one of the few Christian rock acts for which faith isn't a prerequisite for enjoying the music.", The New York Times
• "Aronson's thorough and thoroughly interesting film explains it all and doubles as a primer in all things Danielson.", The Austin Chronicle
• "They make deeply religious music that is all at once uplifting, disturbing, performative and playful. With ringing xylophones, piercing falsettos, clean cut looks, live shows like revivals and a dominant, corporeal love of Christ that would make even Flannery O'Connor pause.", Spin Magazine
• "All sorts of odd acts are committed in the name of God, but the music of the Danielson Famile may be the oddest of them all. Simultaneously evoking the Osmonds and the Residents, these Clarksboro, N.J. siblings have earned a cult following that cuts across spiritual boundaries and even inspired designer John Fluevog to market a Danielson Famile shoe."", Pulse Magazine
• "It's a delight even for the uninitiated.", The Village Voice
• "This family that plays together dresses up as doctors and nurses onstage in an attempt to "heal" its audience -sort of like the Shaggs, GWAR, Donny and Marie, ER and Jerry Falwell all rolled into one.", Rolling Stone