NEW DOCUMENTARY ON NORTH DAKOTA TOWN'S FIGHT WITH WHITE SUPREMACISTS TO PREMIERE SEPT. 9

We talk to directors Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker about a very powerful film that we highly recommend about how the small town of Leith, North Dakota took on neo-Nazi Craig Cobb when he tried to force himself on that town.

One People’s Project

Neo-Nazi Craig Cobb has always tried to do big things at the expense of other people. The people of Leith, North Dakota never sought a spotlight or to cause anyone any harm. So when Cobb tried to take over this quiet ghost town with a population of 24 and turn it into a White supremacist homeland, things exploded. That is the story that the public will learn more about when the new documentary Welcome to Leith premiers on Sept. 9 in theaters.

It was an article in the New York Times that attracted directors Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker to the drama that ensued when Cobb, a longtime presence in the White Power scene and an follower of a 42-year old White supremacist religion called the Creativity Movement, came into town in 2012, began purchasing property and inviting fellow White supremacists to take up residence there. “When Chris and I read about it we were just sorta flabbergasted and it just sounded like a bizzare and compelling story,” Nichols said. “We didn’t decide to go out right then. We just started following it and about a month later we read about a family of White supremacists who had answered Cobb’s call and moved out there. At that point we thought there was some real momentum happening towards Cobb’s vision so we just thought it would be a really incredible opportunity to make a film.”

The film features Cobb, his fellow hatemongers, including the Dutton Family and the National Socialist Movement’s leader Jeff Schoep, as well as residents of Leith, including Cobb’s neighbors, among them the only Black man in the entire county, and Leith Mayor Ryan Schock struggling to keep control. The events made Cobb a virtual household name across the country as the story made national news, and it showed the country the threat that racist groups can still pose despite generations of decline within their circles. “For Chris and I, a lot of this was pretty eye opening,” Nichols said. “When we started down the rabbit hole of these white supremacist websites, and learning about the idea of PLE – Pioneer Little Europe – we had no idea this was something that existed, and we went down to Montgomery (Alabama) to interview people at the Southern Poverty Law Center, and they helped give us a lot of context for what Cobb and others have been trying to do.”

The documentary took a particular departure from others that have focused on this subject. Often, when the production is about the Klan or neo-Nazis, the inclination has been to make them the entire focus of the production, seldom focusing on those that oppose them and making them seem almost untouchable. In Welcome to Leith, the story is even handed with both the White supremacists and the town folk given equal time to tell their story. “That was the first discussion Michael and I had regards to wanting to make this film,” Walker explained, noting that the situation was so unique that it was important that they covered both sides to tell the story properly.

Walker said further that this approach has definitely resonated with those that have already seen the documentary. “I think we have had a lot of festival screenings and the overwhelming response from the audiences is been, ‘Wow, I’ve never thought of these type of people this way. I came in with one idea of what people are and came out with a different idea,’” he said. “The humanization of anyone helps you understand people as people and that then helps you understand their thoughts and their belief set.”

The documentary is to premiere at the IFC Center in New York City on Sept. 9. Other screenings have been scheduled across the country for the fall.

Welcome to Leith – Official Website

Welcome to Leith – Trailer from NO WEATHER on Vimeo.