A 137 Films Production
Directed by Monica Long Ross and Clayton Brown
Produced by Amy Ellison, Monica Long Ross, and Clayton Brown
97 minutes, 2019
Built to demonstrate that the Bible is scientifically and historically accurate, an enormous life-size wooden ark takes shape in rural Williamstown, Kentucky. Lead designer Doug Henderson and his team of talented sculptors labor for months crafting lifelike animals for the project. Among their creations are dinosaurs, which they believe sailed with Noah and his family. They probably took juveniles, he says, explaining how the enormous animals would have fit on the boat. To Doug it doesn't matter that mainstream science puts the age of the Earth at 4.5 billion years. Ph.D. creation scientists at the Ark's parent organization Answers In Genesis maintain that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and that evolution is the work of atheists. Doug believes them.
The creationist vision disturbs Dan Phelps, a Kentucky state geologist. For years, Dan has fought against Answers In Genesis non-science through op-eds and letters to the editor. When he discovers that the Ark will receive tax incentives despite discriminatory hiring practices, he ramps up his fight. A local Baptist minister also protests the incentives, intensifying the struggle over the American principle of the separation of church and state.