Welcome to Leith

Leith was always a peaceful little hamlet in North Dakota. The 24-strong community got along just fine, until the arrival of a new resident. For the first few months Craig Cobb appeared to be just a somewhat eccentric man who didn’t like to share much of himself with his new neighbors. But what none of them knew was that Cobb is one of the most notorious racists in the United States. When it got out that Cobb’s master plan was to transform Leith into a community for neo-Nazis, documentary filmmakers Michael Nichols and Christopher Walker decided to follow developments in this tiny city. Cobb starts stirring up trouble and demands his rights at council meetings. The villagers would like nothing more than to get him out, but they don’t know how. With the atmosphere turning increasingly nasty, the older villagers start panicking. What can they do to turn the tide? The directors move fluidly between the two opposing parties, building the story with consummate precision and maintaining the tension right up to the final frames. The interviews are intercut with scenes revolving around the confrontation between Cobb and his fellow townsfolk, raising uncomfortable questions about freedom of expression and the limits of democracy.