Welcome to Leith (2015) - Michael Beach Nichols & Christopher K. Walker

Michael Beach Nichols & Christopher K. Walker's Welcome to Leith is a all-consuming documentary that chronicles the attempted takeover of a small town in North Dakota by well-known, white supremacist Craig Cobb.  Welcome to Leith is a rather eye-opening experience, exhibiting in great detail the emerging white supremacy hate groups in the United States, documenting the dangers they represent and how their way of accomplishing their mission is almost always fueled by hatred and violence.  A gut-punch of a film, Welcome to Leith is a slow crawling horror film, which tells both sides of the story, documenting the effect Craig's arrival has on the townsfolk who wish to stand-up to such nonsense, as well as documenting Craig and his followers, as they plot to make Leith a mecca of sorts for members of that white supremacy movement.  This film is downright terrifying at times, exhibiting how these homegrown extremist groups rely heavily on their rights as United States citizens, such as the right to free speech and bare arms, to organize and plot out their next move.  Cobb himself uses the information age to his advantage, using the internet to post personal information of those who stand in his way, and unconventional definition of terrorism due to not being direct violence, but a method which I'd argue can be more damaging and ultimately deadly.  Welcome To Leith itself turns into an elaborate, transfixing cat and mouse game between Cobb and his followers vs. the upstanding citizens of the small community of Leith, each using legalism and democracy to their advantage.  While the pure documentation of such a fascinating and terrifying story is engaging in its own right, what makes the filmmaking of Welcome to Leith stand out is the ability of the filmmakers to remain rather objective as they document these two groups.  While its hard for me as a viewer to not simply look at Cobb as some sort of the monster, the filmmakers themselves never fall victim to subjectivity, letting this man express himself and his beliefs to the camera without any manipulation by the filmmakers.  This is a very powerful and important aspect of Welcome to Leith, as I'd argue that in doing so the filmmakers have created a thought-provoking study of legal status, and the protection of subversive or potentially dangerous ideologies in a system that was built around the rights of the individual.  Potent, fascinating, and quite terrifying, Welcome to Leith is a healthy reminder that while many of us view terrorism as something carried out by foreigners, it's just as commonly a domestic issue, being planned and carried out in the rural countryside of America.

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