welcome to leith
five questions for welcome to leith directors michael beach nichols & christopher k. walker
welcome to leith
documentary | bk live | 12. 15. 15
welcome to leith premieres on pbs’s independent lens on monday, april 4, 2016 .
welcome to leith … people flocked to the town’s defence. photograph: michael beach nichols / ap
kynan dutton, craig cobb and deb henderson in the documentary
welcome to leith .
five questions for welcome to leith directors michael beach nichols & christopher k. walker | filmmaker magazine
welcome to leith is a sober, terrifying look at the very real monsters roaming the quiet countryside .
this film was produced by welcome to leith, llc, which is solely responsible for its content .
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we met the filmmakers of' welcome to leith' to talk about their terrifying and visually striking new documentary about white supremacists in leith, north dakota .
welcome to leith chronicles the attempted takeover of a small north dakota town by notorious white supremacist craig cobb .
“welcome to leith” ~ review: “the witch” ~ news chat ~ col. tim holtan, us army band
the swat team arrives in leith. all stills from' welcome to leith.' photo by not in our town. courtesy of first run pictures
take a look at the trailer for' welcome to leith', which aired at the sundance film festival .
welcome to leith is a feature - length documentary which chronicles the struggle of the residents of leith, north dakota, to rid the town of a white supremacist .
“welcome to leith” premiered this week at the sundance film festival. it is currently seeking u. s. distribution .
welcome to leith is a feature documentary chronicling the attempted takeover of a small town in north dakota by white supremacists .
kynan dutton, craig cobb, and debra thompson on patrol in' welcome to leith.' photo by gregory bruce
welcome to leith delivers a psychological horror film, one more compelling and politically relevant than your average fiction offering in the genre .
welcome to leith is a film about a drinking town with a racist conclave problem. is that how the t - shirts go ?
[ us ] welcome to leith (2015) documentary about white supremacist craig cobb and his attempt to take over a small town in north dakota .
[ us ] welcome to leith (2015) documentary about white supremacist craig cobb and his attempt to take over a small town in north dakota. : netflixbestof
“at first i thought he was a quiet, keep - to - himself kind of guy, ” recalls the town’s mayor ryan schock in the documentary welcome to leith .
this article is related to: festivals and tagged meet the 2015 sundance filmmakers, michael beach nichols & christopher k. walker, sundance 2015, sundance film festival, welcome to leith
welcome to leith is now playing at ifc center in new york. the directors will be in attendance during 7: 45 pm screening on thursday, september 10 .
we are thrilled and completely humbled to share that welcome to leith has been nominated for an emmy award! congrats to all the nominees. and so much appreciation for independent lens | pbs! and, of course, so much gratitude to the amazing people of leith and grant county .
welcome to leith is a movie starring craig cobb, ryan lenz, and amber schatz. when a noted white supremacist moves into their town, the residents of leith, north dakota do what they can to prevent him from taking control of the municipality .
welcome to leith shows what can happen here, though instead of the old warning
watch the skies ,
those who can stomach it will have to keep their eyes on hate - speech websites .
a welcome to leith photo zine, with stills from the film, signature character portraits by joshua simpson, and essays by the filmmakers about what went on behind - the - scenes .
the two filmmakers said they felt like they had access to the entire population of leith .
following the end of the 7: 50 p. m. friday showing of
welcome to leith ,
walker, nichols and schock held a question - and - answer session in the theater .
welcome to leith chronicles the attempted takeover of a small north dakota town by notorious white supremacist craig cobb. as cobb and his cohorts become more threatening, tensions soar and residents desperately look for ways to expel the unwanted neighbors .
we' ll have to rely on the bravery of rural americans like those in leith to stop their rise in power .
copyright © 2009 water of leith conservation trust. all rights reserved. the water of leith conservation trust is a scottish charity number sc000015 and a company registered in scotland no. 114294. this website was built by greener leith
welcome to leith is a feature film offering a glimpse into a town struggling for sovereignty against one man' s extremist vision. filmed during an 8 month period documenting a white separatist' s arrest for terrorizing the townspeople on an armed patrol and his subsequent release from jail six months later, welcome to leith is an eerie document of american diy ideals played out in one of the most under populated states in the nation .
he begins to acquire plots of land as part of his surreptitious plan to turn leith into a whites - only community to preserve the aryan race .
he has since moved to the tiny town of antler, three hours north of leith in hopes of carrying out his plan. the town is home to 25 people — just one more than leith .
when the credits rolled, the audience erupted into applause, and it was clear that the documentary
welcome to leith ,
premiering in bismarck at the grand theatre, 1486 interstate loop, was well - received .
leith residents heather and lee cook describe how white supremacist craig cobb doxxed them .
michael beach nichols and christopher k. walker from the movie
welcome to leith
at the l. a. times photo and video studio at the sundance film festival. (jay l. clendenin / los angeles times )
click here to join or click here to make a donation to the trust .
welcome to leith is a co - production of no weather films, the cinemart and sundial pictures, produced in association with the independent television service (itvs), with funding provided by the corporation for public broadcasting (cpb) .
filmed over the course of eight months in late 2013 and early 2014, welcome to leith chronicles infamous white supremacist craig cobb' s attempt to take over the tiny hamlet of leith, north dakota (population 24, including children), by buying up properties, beckoning like - minded supporters to join him, and generally pissing off everyone who stands in his way .
we' re coming off an incredibly successful experience finishing and getting flex is kings out into the world after the kickstarter community made it happen. we are very confident that with your support, welcome to leith will get finished on time .
in 2012, longtime white supremacist leader craig cobb bought a property in leith, north dakota, a minuscule town that at the time counted 24 people as its population. that ominous development provides the starting point for “ welcome to leith, ” directors michael beach nichols and christopher k. walker’s fascinating portrait of bigotry incarnate .
craig cobb and kynan dutton terrorise the folk of leith. pic: first run features
you can support the water of leith conservation trust by joining or making a donation .
michael nichols, left, christopher walker, center, and ryan schock, right, answer questions from the audience following a friday night showing of the documentary
welcome to leith ,
as a bismarck police officer, background, looks on .
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welcome to leith chronicles the attempted takeover of a small town in north dakota by notorious white supremacist craig cobb. as his behavior becomes more threatening, tensions soar, and the residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbor. with incredible access to both longtime residents of leith and white supremacists, the film examines a small community in the plains struggling for sovereignty against an extremist vision. urltoken
welcome to leith asks us this: america is a country that prides itself on freedom, but what can be done when people take that freedom too far? and how do you deal with bald - faced hatred when it tries to take over something you hold dear? the people of leith know the answers, and their experience with evil will be harrowing for anyone .
as the situation in the town reached boiling point, national media and critics descended on leith to protest the group’s plans and bear witnesses to the unsettling war that threatened to explode .
friday, september 20 – leith, north dakota has gotten a lot of attention resulting from craig cobb’s plan to develop the town as a white supremacist community. independent producer meg luther lindholm recently traveled to leith to talk to residents and to cobb for an npr story. she also interviewed gregory gordon about the situation. [ … ]
welcome to leith offers a glimpse into a town struggling for sovereignty against one man' s extremist vision. filmed in the days leading up to cobb' s arrest for terrorizing the townspeople on an armed patrol and his subsequent release from jail six months later, welcome to leith is an eerie document of american diy ideals played out in one of the most under - populated states in the nation. that it takes place in the shadow of the biggest oil boom in north dakota' s history makes the film a complex document exploring unforeseen causes and effects .
welcome to leith is a feature documentary chronicling the attempted takeover of a small town in north dakota by notorious white supremacist craig cobb. as his behavior becomes more threatening, tensions soar, and the residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbor. with incredible access to both long time residents of leith and white supremacists, the film examines a small community in the plains struggling for sovereignty against an extremist vision .
if “welcome to leith” has a flaw, it’s that this reality prevents any satisfying conclusion: while some justice has been served, leith’s citizens are still afraid of what the future may hold, and whatever grief they’ve been spared might now simply be visited on some other hapless rural enclave instead. offering big - picture context are agents of the southern poverty law center who keep close tabs on u. s. hate groups; they first brought cobb’s stealth plan for leith to public attention .
synopsis welcome to leith is a feature documentary chronicling the attempted takeover of a small town in north dakota by notorious white supremacist craig cobb. as his behavior becomes more threatening, tensions soar, and the residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbor. with incredible access to both long time residents of leith and white supremacists, the film examines a small community in the plains struggling for sovereignty against an extremist vision .
welcome to leith is a fascinating and frequently suspenseful story about race, civil liberties, and freedom in america. that it takes place in the shadow of the biggest oil boom in north dakota' s history makes the film a complex document exploring unforeseen causes and effects .
as for schock, audience members asked him whether he and his fellow leith residents felt safe .
at the center of the often terrifying documentary welcome to leith is a question that we as a society seem to be struggling with more and more every passing year: to what extent can we trust the rigor of law to protect us from those who abuse it, who manipulate it to their ends to do evil wherever they can? the film offers no easy answers, and therein lies its strength. the story of a small, largely abandoned north dakota town invaded by an infamous white supremacist, welcome to leith posits a scenario that could happen in virtually any rust belt town, any area so decimated by the death of american industry that it would take little to nothing for a particularly intelligent psychopath to come in and cause trouble. this is its disquieting power .
welcome to leith received largely positive reviews from critics. on rotten tomatoes, it holds a certified fresh 98% score based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 7. 7 / 10. the site' s consensus states :
as disturbing as it is thought - provoking, welcome to leith offers an uncomfortable - - and essential - - glimpse into a part of society many americans would much rather ignore .
metacritic reports an 80 out of 100 rating based on 15 critics, indicating
generally favorable reviews
. (wikipedia )
co - executive producer credit. your name included in the credits of the film and on the film' s imdb. plus whatever you want above. welcome to the team .
cobb’s plan was to setup shop and invite other like - minded nationalists to move to leith in order to take control of the electoral vote and seize power. in a country that prides itself on its democratic process, cobb sought to take advantage of the system to implement his perverted rule .
more on the recent steps mayor ryan schock has taken to dissolve leith' s local government .
these days, leith is ridden with abandoned buildings and strapped of cash. but there are no swastikas in sight, and residents hope to keep it that way .
associate producer credit. your name listed in the credits of the film and on the film' s imdb page. + gorgeous limited edition and numbered welcome to leith poster + photo zine on the making of welcome to leith written by the filmmakers and featuring stunning north dakota photography by joshua simpson + two tickets to an nyc screening of the film with q and a by the filmmakers + dvd with exclusive bonus footage + digital download of the score + hd download of the film + a no weather productions one - inch round pin - back button + a thank you on our facebook page + we' ll add you to our digital mailing list .
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what do you get when you combine gun - toting neo - nazis, frightened townspeople, and the battle for control over a small town in north dakotan oil country? that' s what the documentary welcome to leith, now playing at ifc center in new york, explores with terrifying intimacy .
avowed white supremacists craig cobb and kynan dutton patrol the roads of leith brandishing rifles, confronting longtime residents .
i live about an hour away from leith, i remember when this was going down. crazy stuff .
friday, march 18 – one of the films showing at the fargo film festival is “welcome to leith, ” a documentary about white supremacist craig cobb’s effort to take over a small town in north dakota. we visit with filmmakers michael nichols and christopher walker. ~ ~ ~ matt olien is here to review “the witch. ” ~ ~ ~ col. [ … ]
walker and nichols said they had no plans to do a sequel, perhaps based on cobb' s attempt to duplicate his leith strategy in antler, just south of the canadian border in bottineau county, but others, such as leith media representative bruce, said they were continuing to follow cobb and dutton' s movements .
welcome to leith has a lot to say to uk viewers with many echoes of the anti - racist struggle in this country. particularly chilling are the complaints that the white supremacists make about “multiculturalism”. there is an appearance from a daily mail journalist who interviews some of the residents about their campaign. ironically, their paper probably has more in common with cobb than the brave residents .
it was a dramatic and confrontational scene at the post - screening q & a; for the documentary
welcome to leith
on thursday night, as many in the audience turned against the filmmakers and festival staff over the appearance via teleconferencing of one of the film' s subjects, white supremacist craig cobb .
leith fought back and lawmakers used every trick and loophole in the book to thwart cobb’s plans and throw him in jail. they passed laws disallowing them to live in the houses due to the lack of running water and sought to silence their vile message .
' welcome to leith' is a feature documentary chronicling the attempted takeover of a small town in north dakota by notorious white supremacist craig cobb. filmed in the days leading up to cobb' s arrest for terrorizing the townspeople on an armed patrol and his subsequent release from jail six months later, the film is an eerie document of american diy ideals .
we made three trips to leith, with each lasting close to three weeks. bismarck was our home base (a 90 - minute drive from leith) — it was helpful for us to be in a city so we could maintain our gear if any issues arose, but it was also a way to respect the community and give them a little space from our cameras .
the tiny town of leith, n. d. , managed to thwart a white supremacist' s plans to take over the town in 2013. but the saga still haunts its residents .
cobb and dutton later pleaded guilty to felony terrorizing, and both have since left leith. cobb now resides in sherwood, and dutton lives in underwood .
in september 2012, the tiny prairie town of leith, north dakota, saw its population of 24 grow by one. trouble had come to town .
' welcome to leith' is a feature documentary chronicling the attempted takeover of a small town in north dakota by notorious white supremacist craig cobb. filmed in the days leading up to cobb' s arrest for terrorizing the townspeople on an armed patrol and his subsequent release from jail six months later, the film is an eerie document of american diy ideals. (imdb )
meanwhile, far from the prairies of north dakota, ryan lenz, an investigator from montgomery, alabama’s southern poverty law center, discovers cobb’s posts and informs leith’s mayor, ryan schock. schock, a young rancher and family man who has lived in leith all his life, is stunned by the news — and the ensuing media firestorm as tensions in leith threaten to boil over into violence .
the two film - makers responsible for the remarkable documentary, welcome to leith, explain that they made an important breakthrough when they recognized the type of story they were dealing with: it was a western. michael beach nichols and christopher k. walker made this observation following a screening of the film at the fargo film festival, where [ … ]
thursday, december 18 – last june, we heard about “welcome to leith” a feature film about the north dakota town’s experience with white supremacist craig cobb. at the time, the film was being funded in part by crowd - sourcing. now we learn it’s been accepted by the sundance film festival. joining us with an update are [ … ]
while there’s a certain morally transgressive element in the movie’s use of traditional documentary technique to allow dutton and cobb to discuss their motives, it also deepens the movie’s illustrative power. as the men continue to threaten locals, who respond by constantly monitoring their assailants behavior, “welcome to leith” develops into a stunning portrait of first amendment rights pushed to their extremes. ultimately, both dutton and cobb were arrested for patrolling their neighborhood with guns, but that’s only the beginning of a story in which seemingly every response to their provocations feed into their horrifying intentions .
it was soon discovered that the purchaser, craig cobb, was not, as most assumed, an outsider seeking to profit from the state’s oil boom. his real estate speculation was a stealth operation to take over the village and make leith a haven for white supremacists. shortly after his plans were revealed by the southern poverty law center, a white supremacist family moved to leith to fix up the properties .
the filmmakers deliver an up - close look at recurring showdowns between infuriated locals and the disturbing figure of cobb, along with the various likeminded forces who sprang up to support him. filled with gripping showdowns and sinister agendas, the movie builds its unsettling power by depicting the struggle from both perspectives. while the delineation between good and evil holds strong, “welcome to leith” is also creepily even - handed .
this chronicle of a rural community’s struggle for sovereignty amidst extremism quite cleverly maneuvers us into an uncomfortable confrontation with our own values. like the residents, we feel our anger escalate, but as disturbing and hateful as his racist attitudes are, cobb is afforded certain protections under the law. the unsettling underpinning of welcome to leith is how we wrestle with our democratic principles when they’re pushed to the limit .
leith mount surgery is a modern, gp medical practice in north east edinburgh, with full disabled access and double buggy access .
“welcome to leith” wisely resists the kind of gimmickry that might have resulted in a stylistic hybrid of “the blair witch project” or “invasion of the body snatchers. ” this film gives mr. cobb ample time to explain himself in language casually peppered with racist epithets that are all the more offensive for being delivered matter - of - factly. he and his young associate kynan dutton speak in calm, rational tones .
i met nichols and walker last week at the vice office in brooklyn to talk about what drew them to leith, the intersections between documentary and horror, and what it was like to meet
one of the most famous racists in the world .
documentary has a rich history of films by filmmakers who must honestly engage subjects with odious views. directors michael beach nichols and christopher walker stumbled across one such fellow in craig cobb, a white supremacist with a devious and possibly quite legal plan to produce a white power enclave in the american heartland. premiering at sundance in the documentary competition, their welcome to leith chronicles the story of the town of leith against cobb but also, implicitly, their own story of engaging their subject — who says he’s available for skype interviews after the premiere .
“welcome to leith” is a gripping you - are - there portrait of a community under siege: the titular tiny north dakota burg that, a couple of years ago, suddenly found itself unhappily chosen as a suitably cheap, isolated “planned community” for some of the united states’ most notorious white supremacists. the conflict between different notions of freedom, law - enforcement [ … ]
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we didn' t want to make the film unless we could speak to every side, every perspective ,
said nichols .
it would be very easy to tell the story of the leith residents solely but that wasn' t what we were interested in doing. we wanted to tell mr. cobb' s story and what he wanted to do as well. because that was the story, this story was what was happening in leith, n. d .
mcdowall said her involvement in the documentary began as a personal project, as she grew up in carson, near to leith, and wanted to document cobb' s efforts, which received national and international media attention .
welcome to leith juxtaposes background accounts of cobb and a few of his affiliates with the story of leith itself. mayor ryan schock oversaw what until late summer 2012 was a town of only about 16 or so residents. most have families, and there’s only one business left in leith: a bar. many of the town’s buildings and former businesses are condemned, the result of the only lingering industry in the area being the oil boom also chronicled in last year’s the overnighters. but for the town’s unease toward the transient population that the sudden influx of oil fields conferred, it’s cobb who caused substantially more trouble. first he bought a house in leith, and the neighbors thought little of it. they found him strange, but assumed he was just reserved. then he started buying more property. and before long, he was inviting white supremacists all over america to move to leith, the idea being that a minor majority would be enough to overthrow schock and take over the town, with the ultimate goal of it becoming a white power utopia .
jamie kelso, 65, is believed to lead the american freedom party though he refuses to refer to himself as a white supremacist .
leith may be on the verge of losing its city government, but schock hopes to keep its history alive. he wants residents to remember the old creamery, the old movie theater that became the town hall, the town dances that used to draw residents together at night .
photo zine on the making of welcome to leith written by the filmmakers and featuring stunning portraiture and north dakota photography by joshua simpson. + two tickets to an nyc screening of the film with q and a by the filmmakers + dvd with exclusive bonus footage + digital download of the score + hd download of the film + a no weather productions one - inch round pin - back button + a thank you on our facebook page + we' ll add you to our digital mailing list .
leith, a 90 minute drive from the nearest city (bismarck) is home to around 20 people, mostly farmers and ranchers living on a prairie backdrop of sky and wheat. in 2012, an outsider moved in and started buying up property. residents initially welcomed him, figuring he’d moved to be closer to the oil fields, but craig cobb had other motives. posting on white nationalist forums that he’d found the perfect place to start an all - white enclave, cobb implored other white supremacists to move to leith and help take over the town’s government .
this documentary movie poster promotes the story of leith and white supremacist craig cobb, who is depicted under the town sign with his walking stick .
in the general election of november of 1916, morton county was divided, and two new counties were created – sioux and grant. on this date of that year, a group of civic leaders from the village of leith were in bismarck, attempting to gain support for leith as the new county seat. boosters for [ … ]
since leith is so small, cobb’s plan was to buy up a few of the houses in town and then take over the local government with a bunch of fellow racist separatists so that they’d have the whole town to themselves. to accomplish this goal, he even sold one of his houses for $ 1 to the national socialist movement, a neo - nazi group. plenty of people flocked to leith’s defence when cobb and the cronies who moved on to his property made town meetings and daily life hell for the townsfolk by harassing them, parading around with guns, and publishing their personal information on websites to provoke retribution .
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the leith city council in north dakota approved a moratorium on any new construction in their town in order to prevent a group of white supremacists from creating an aryan community, the houston chronicle reported .
the filmmakers drive that point home in a haunting finale as they sit with cobb in a hotel room away from the public eye. it’s here that he strikes a noticeable contrast with the rambling lunatic seen before. was it all an act? examining his angry protocol with a measured gaze, “welcome to leith” questions the notion of progress in a country where hatred has the power to percolate on its own terms. as menacing as cobb sounds during his outbursts, he’s far more intimidating when he comes down to earth .
the city of leith, north dakota, breathed a small sigh of relief on this date in 2013 when two white supremacists with designs on the town were taken into custody. craig cobb and kynan dutton, two neo - nazis, had patrolled the town with a shotgun and rifle that saturday, leading to several 911 calls from leith [ … ]
you' ve described welcome to leith as
kind of like a western .
the film has an impressively strong sense of structure: i really felt the building sense of conflict toward a kind of final showdown, like in a western—or even a horror movie. how important was it to you to have a sense of drama and tension to the documentary? nichols: i think it was unavoidable. and building on that idea of us being able to cover everything, we also arrived in town to find that the people who live there had been documenting each other the entire time, and were very eager to share that footage with us as proof of being antagonized, by [ whomever ] was on the other side .
the town’s ramshackle appearance — “b - roll from ‘the walking dead,' ” as one journalist puts it — lends itself to the disturbing proceedings at hand. the vacant streets and creaky wooden homes convey the sense of abandonment that allows cobb — a bearded lunatic who spouts his racial creed to untold followers online — to quickly take root. when he initially arrives, cobb doesn’t stand out to any of the locals as particularly suspicious, until they notice his call to arms as he beckons various white supremacist leaders to join him in the area. blending talking heads with snippets of news coverage, “welcome to leith” erupts into an intense second act as cobb storms town hall meetings in an alarming, systematic process of provoking reactions from terrified locals .
currimbhoy asked the first question of cobb, as to why he agreed to participate in the film .
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craig cobb recently announced his support of donald trump’s presidency. would trump probably repudiate cobb’s support? i don’t know. i’m no trump apologist, but i’d like to think the donald would at least distance himself from cobb, if pressed. the mastery of this film, welcome to leith, is that in 86 minutes it basically produces a microcosm of how white america has ever - so - gently started to drop the color - blind mystique of the last 50 years — even in leith. it’s not enough to simply say, “live and let live. ” there’s a rainbow of whites: the caustics, the apologists, and the growing number of people (even in a town of 16) who stand up and say, “not in my backyard. ”
for all of cobb’s insistences that “all we want in the world is our own separatism, ” that seems to be at odds with the sudden appearance of signs declaring that there will be “no niggers” in leith, and declarations that “we’re not trying to threaten anyone” as they wander around armed to the teeth. for bobby harper, the only black man in leith, this is a violation of the home he built there with his wife. for lee cook, who moved to leith with his wife many years before after the sadistic murder of his teenage daughter, it’s an invasion of the sanctity of the place they chose for its silence, for the escape it offered from the horrors of the modern world. soon cobb is subtly threatening and antagonizing leith, along with his followers and compatriots, asserting their legally protected civil rights every step of the way .
winnie explores winnie mandela' s life and contribution to the struggle to bring down apartheid from the inside .
someone else in the crowd angrily shouted a question asking why cobb is afraid of jews, which went unanswered. nichols and walker then answered a question as to how they first heard of what was happening in leith .
we cannot accept this racist hatred they are bringing here. leith is in a crisis and is crying out for help ,
said bismarck resident jeremy kelly .
interesting fact: there' s a similar sized settlement near leith called
heil
. i wonder why cobb & co. didn' t try moving there ?
mcdowall said it was important for north dakotans to recognize that white supremacy continues to threaten communities in the state .
good evening mr. cobb. welcome to sundance, virtually ,
said sundance programmer hussain currimbhoy, who moderated the event .
my name is hussain ali currimbhoy. i' m the programmer here at sundance and temple har shalom .
this was met with laughs and a roar of approval from the crowd .
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a baltimore exterminator helps a resident with rat - infested yard learn to outsmart rats before they adapt to her poison .
on a final note, no students are required to go to a public school, however, it has to be proven that students are being given an adequate education elsewhere .
i' m not going to engage you. crawl back to whatever alt - right rock you crawled out from .
the outcry over cobb’s presence in leith quickly generates national attention — in addition to support for his right to live there from major white supremacist figures, some of whom head to the town to further their efforts. hoping to attract a voting majority with the expressed desire of developing an aryan outpost, cobb’s mission is particularly troublesome because of the communal support that surrounds it, which the filmmakers capture in a suspenseful blend of verite and testimonials from both sides of the battle .
the council made their move on sunday after craig cobb, 61, purchased 12 plots of land in leith with the hopes of transforming the area into a neo - nazi enclave .
as guardians of edinburgh’s river we need to keep watch on what is happening along the 12 miles of walkway from balerno to leith. we need to know promptly about anything which needs action. patrol volunteers are our eyes and ears. patrol volunteers adopt a ‘patch’ of river and walkway and ideally patrol it once a week, keeping a watch for any problems .
nyc - based photographer joshua simpson flew out to north dakota with us on our last trip and took some stunning photographs of leith and grant county. he' s generously donating some limited edition prints as incentives to help the film. check out some of his work below and at his website: here .
at earlier sundance screenings of the film, leith' s mayor ryan schock appeared for q & as. ; after the screening thursday, nichols said ,
one person from the film would like to participate in the q & a; tonight, so i' d like to introduce craig cobb .
that property' s now going to cost them a lot of money every year ,
schock said to applause .
i feel that. i got in to that heavy lately but i was also stuck on keys to the kuffs hard for a grip there. i haven' t listened to it enough to dismiss it but i think nehruviandoom is the weakest .
while most can generally agree that nazism is something that should never come back, welcome to leith examines an extreme scenario of what happens when the boundaries of law are abused, and what happens when fringe social groups find ways to work that to their advantage, even when the harm of others becomes a potential consequence. the residents of leith make them clearly unwelcome, and cobb and his associates respond by patrolling the streets with rifles. virtually nobody breaks the law, for all the excruciating tension on display, and the one instance in which the law is eventually broken is subject to substantial dispute. at the center of it all is cobb, a man equally convinced of the nobility of his mission and the evils of racial impurity. sometimes, the scariest people in the world are the ones you can’t stop, the ones who know exactly how to make sure you can never stop them, who know how you’d try to do it before you even come up with the idea. fear is a lack of control, after all .
teams of volunteers from business across the city help us to deliver environmental improvement projects in the water of leith valley, why not get your company involved? an environmental action day gives staff the chance to make a positive difference to a familiar local environment. conservation work can also provide a great backdrop to staff training and development. this in turn can boost team moral, motivation, help with stress management and be a lot of fun. it' s an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that your business has a commitment to corporate and social responsibility by allowing your staff to work with the third sector in their local outdoor environment .
there are a few moments in “ welcome to leith, ” a documentary about a north dakota town that resists being taken over by white supremacists, when the film might be mistaken for a horror movie about an alien invasion. only one business operates in this village of 24 residents, mostly farmers and ranchers, in grant county. three years ago, a scruffy gray - bearded stranger with beady eyes appeared and began buying properties in the area. when his real estate spree ended, he had accumulated at least a dozen plots of land .
the newcomer was craig cobb, a notorious white supremacist. quietly snapping up plots of land, he planned to take over the town government and establish cobbsville, a haven for white separatists. in organizing a rally of supremacists and neo - nazis and courting them to take up residence, cobb does not endear himself to leith. as his behavior becomes more threatening, tensions soar, and the residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbor .
thank you for this recommendation. the courage of the towns people was really inspiring. especially the lone black resident that got in the face of cobb. the national socialist movement would definitely have the numbers to take over a small part of the country like that, and we' ll have to rely on the bravery of rural americans like those in leith to stop their rise in power .
“welcome to leith” is a gripping you - are - there portrait of a community under siege: the titular tiny north dakota burg that, a couple of years ago, suddenly found itself unhappily chosen as a suitably cheap, isolated “planned community” for some of the united states’ most notorious white supremacists. the conflict between different notions of freedom, law - enforcement problems, and an atmosphere of escalating violent threat make michael beach nichols and christopher k. walker’s documentary as engrossing as a fictional thriller. it will be primarily of interest to broadcasters, though some additional niche home - format sales and possible limited theatrical exposure are also signaled .
leith, north dakota is a registered ghost town of 24 people. its inhabitants are mostly farmers or ranchers, with land passed down generation to generation. the town has an apocalyptic beauty set against a prairie backdrop of wide - open sky and fields of wheat .
leith is a tiny, quiet town of just 24 people. everything changes in may 2012 when craig cobb, described as one of the top five white supremacists in the us, moves into town .
16x20 clayton patterson print! limited edition, signed and numbered print by the legendary nyc photographer. clayton is donating 10 of these to the campaign - this is a big deal. the photo will be creepy and wonderful. + special thanks in film credits and on film' s imdb page + photo zine on the making of welcome to leith written by the filmmakers and featuring stunning north dakota photography by joshua simpson + two tickets to an nyc screening of the film with q and a by the filmmakers + dvd with exclusive bonus footage + digital download of the score + hd download of the film + a no weather productions one - inch round pin - back button + a thank you on our facebook page + we' ll add you to our digital mailing list .
as for cobb, he remains determined to carry out his racist agenda. he spent five months in jail on terror charges and was released after he struck a deal with prosecuters. he was ultimately run out of leith in 2013 and residents even burned down his house .
we were nervous about tonight, but we felt like it was an important conversation that we wanted to attempt to have .
sundial pictures is an independent film production and distribution company, providing the resources and supervision to help bring filmmakers' visions to reality .
the film has something to say about freedoms and liberties when applied to nazis. even the most committed liberal would shudder at the way that cobb uses constitutional rights to protect himself from the residents’ opposition .
monday, september 23 – today’s show features highlights from “minot rebuilding dreams, ” a prairie public television special documenting minot’s efforts to recover from the flood of 2011. ~ ~ ~ more than 300 people turned out in leith, nd this weekend to protest the visit of a white nationalist group leader. new director dave thompson was in [ … ]
is an award - winning filmmaker and the recipient of jerome foundation and rooftop filmmaker grants. his critically - acclaimed second feature film, welcome to leith, debuted at the 2015 sundance film festival, before going on to screen at sxsw, hot docs, idfa, and many others. his 2013 feature debut flex is kings premiered at the tribeca film festival and was hailed as an “awesome documentary” by rapper pusha t. previously, he directed the new york times op - doc separatist, the vimeo staff pick delivery, the street dance web series bklyn flex, and was part of the peabody award - winning producing team behind sundance channel’s 11 - hour docuseries brick city .
the next question was from the audience and directed to the filmmakers, as to what was the most uncomfortable moment in shooting the film .
welcome to nacis 2016 in colorado springs! this is the annual meeting of the north american cartographic information society (nacis). see the schedule below and check out the nacis website for more details. the north american cartographic information society, founded in 1980, is an organization comprised of specialists from private, academic, and government organizations whose common interest lies in facilitating communication in the map information community .
why you should watch: i previously profiled the project during its crowdfunding campaign. nichols and walker capture the conflict between cobb’s group and the existing leith residents as it unfolds, through genuinely frightening standoffs with palpable tension and raw emotions on either side. for both camps, it’s evident that leith becomes the front line in a cultural war, with cobb’s sense of entitlement and his tactics of intimidation pitted against a small town whose residents won’t allow change to be forced on their community by outsiders without a fight .
when craig cobb arrived in the small town of leith, north dakota in 2012 the two dozen residents in the sleepy rural town didn’t think much of him. but very soon they would find themselves fighting a bitter war against the 60 - year - old to save their way of life .
it is also a film i would urge those tempted by identity politics to watch. leith is a town with only one black male resident. he was not left to fight alone and it was his white neighbours who were often the most vehement in opposition to cobb’s white supremacist ideology. if identitarians are correct, why would this small rural white town rise up at the thought of having it turned into a whites - only community ?
editing the film into a strong fine cut ready to be submitted to festivals in the fall. this is the biggest and most expensive chunk .
thurgood marshall, after graduating howard u. law school, goes to the deep south to document how black schools were separate but not equal .
two festival passes to the film for any one festival we screen at (transportation and lodging not included). our last film, flex is kings, played at festivals in new york city, brooklyn, san francisco, sweden, guam, spain, and more. if we' re attending the festival, we' ll take you to the after party! + special thanks in film credits and on film' s imdb page + photo zine on the making of welcome to leith written by the filmmakers and featuring stunning north dakota photography by joshua simpson + two tickets to an nyc screening of the film with q and a by the filmmakers + dvd with exclusive bonus footage + digital download of the score + hd download of the film + a no weather productions one - inch round pin - back button + a thank you on our facebook page + we' ll add you to our digital mailing list.
welcome to leith is a 2015 american documentary film directed by michael beach nichols and christopher k. walker about white supremacist craig cobb 's attempt to take over the north dakota town leith . the film premiered on january 26 , 2015 at the 2015 sundance film festival and , after a limited theatrical release on september 9 , was broadcast on pbs ' series independent lens on april 4 , 2016 . 
welcome to leith is a 2015 american documentary film directed by michael beach nichols and christopher k. walker about white supremacist craig cobb's attempt to take over the north dakota town leith. the film premiered on january 26, 2015 at the 2015 sundance film festival and, after a limited theatrical release on september 9, was broadcast on pbs' series independent lens on april 4, 2016.
welcome to leith is a 2015 american documentary film directed by michael beach nichols and christopher k. walker about white supremacist craig cobb's attempt to take over the north dakota town leith. the film premiered on january 26, 2015 at the 2015 sundance film festival and, after a limited theatrical release on september 9, was broadcast on pbs' series independent lens on april 4, 2016.