Welcome to Leith | |
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Directed by |
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Written by |
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Produced by |
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Cinematography | Michael Beach Nichols |
Edited by |
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Music by | T. Griffin |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | First Run Features |
Release dates | |
Running time | 86 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $36,010[2] |
Welcome to Leith is a 2015 American documentary thriller 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, will be broadcast on PBS.[3]
Leith is a town which had a population of 16 in 2010.[4] In May 2012, Craig Cobb, an American Canadian white nationalist Neo-Nazi, moved to Leith with the intention of building a community of people sharing his white nationalist ideology and gaining the electoral majority.[5] He purchased 12 plots of land.[6]
Nichols and Walker, who are based in New York, flew to North Dakota two months after they read an August 2013 NY Times article about Craig Cobb's scheme to transform Leith into a white supremacist town.[7] They made three trips to Leith within an 8-month period, each around 3 weeks long, for the production of the film.[8] 90 days were spent editing the film.[9] In June 2014 Nichols and Walker launched a Kickstarter to raise funds for the production of the film. They surpassed their $60,000 goal, raising $64,751.[10] The directors cited Errol Morris as an influence for how they shot the film.[7]
Welcome to Leith received largely positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% score based on 34 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."[11] Metacritic reports an 80 out of 100 rating based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]
Indiewire critic Kate Erbland gave the documentary a B grade, described it as "terrifying and insightful".[13]
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