- Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Creationism versus evolution: it's an age-old debate.
And tonight, we meet a father and daughter
who are on opposite sides of this polarizing spectrum.
The daughter bases her beliefs in scientific fact.
The father is a staunch creationism believer
and still believes fossils are a result of Noah's ark.
In tonight's documentary,
we will watch this father and daughter try to connect
despite their differences
in a film appropriately titled Flood.
Flood is as much about family,
specifically fathers and daughters,
as it is about science and where humanity comes from.
Daughter Katy Scoggin is also the director of Flood.
Her opinions about the creation of the universe
and the faith she'd been taught all changed
after she took an evolution class in college.
She tells viewers one morning she woke up
with a new set of beliefs after realizing that the flood
and her father's understanding of the world
was scientifically impossible.
Adding another layer to the narrative
is that her father, Marvin, is a bit of a complex character.
He is an elementary school science teacher,
popular with students, kind-hearted,
and has a good sense of humor.
But when it comes to his religious beliefs,
he is argumentative, stubborn, and talks with conviction.
Caught in the middle of this existential family dynamic
is Katy's mom, Peggy.
Peggy's views were more similar to Marvin's,
but have changed over the years
to the point where she is much more moderate.
When the film starts,
we learned that there was a long drought between conversations
or any words at all between Katy and Marvin.
In the film, Marvin has just retired,
and the family is moving to Virginia
from California's inland empire, where Katy grew up.
As you will see, a road trip across America
is the perfect time for discussions
about life and differences,
especially when they stop at a symbolic oasis
like Scott City, Kansas.
The area was once covered by the ocean
and is currently teeming with fossils from the Cretaceous era.
The director talks to fossil hunters on camera,
who are drawn to the area in search of history.
They also encourage Katy
to form a tentative relationship with Marvin.
Katy is also a reluctant actor in the film
and doesn't make an appearance until later in the movie.
She does narrate the film, however,
her voice lending conviction and authenticity
to her experiences and beliefs, and those of her father.
Scoggin uses archival footage from home movies
and animated videos she saw about Noah's ark and the flood
while attending her evangelical school
to help give insight into her home life
and religious upbringing.
This is Katy's feature film documentary directorial debut.
And she is off to a good start, as Flood won a Special Mention
at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam.
There is no way around conversation,
awkward or intimate as it may be,
on a cross-country road trip.
But Katy Scoggin navigates discomfort brilliantly.
Her film has been called a prescription
for our divisive age.
Flood starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.