The film introduces us to some of the town’s residents
before we meet Craig Cobb, a leader in the white supremacist movement who
bought several plots of land in Leith with the intention of turning the town
into a haven for racists. He posted notices online urging white supremacists to
move there, telling them it was a place they could quickly control politically.
And already being aware of how small the population is, we know that Cobb is
right, and that is frightening. The film is able to get close to Cobb as well
as to the town’s other residents, which is what makes the film so fascinating.
When asked where his hatred comes from, Cobb answers, “We hate that which threatens
that which we love.”
Cobb donated one of the buildings he purchased to the
National Socialist Movement, one of the largest neo-Nazi groups in the country.
The film interviews Jeff Schoep, one of the leaders of that group (there is a
shot of him and Cobb giving the Nazi salute). It’s amazing to me that there are
still people who proudly call themselves Nazis. They seem like lonely, sad
children who want to play dress-up, and decide specifically to play the
villains. Just watch that town meeting scene, with the three NSM members
standing in the front of the room. They look like ostracized, weak children
posing as stronger people. It would all be laughable if these sad little losers
weren’t also violent.
Kynan Dutton seems to be the most pathetic of all. Look
at his sad attempt to replicate the Hitler mustache. You can tell he was a guy
who was picked on in school and probably had no friends. So of course he’s
going to latch onto any group that will embrace him. He and his wife and
children are racists who move to Leith and live on Cobb’s property, which has
no running water. Cobb encourages newly released white inmates to come to
Leith, posting messages like “Come now, skins and federal prison grads!”
and “The streets will run deep in the blood of our enemies, some whites
among them.” And that is even scarier, because he’s deliberately reaching
out to a violent segment of the population, and encouraging violence from them.
So when the town’s people react in fear, you can hardly blame them.
What is also interesting is that because these days
everyone has cameras, both sides of this battle are constantly filming
everything. And this documentary actually includes footage shot by the racists.
Particularly frightening is the footage shot by Dutton’s wife, which shows
Dutton and Cobb walking down the town’s streets carrying rifles, engaging in
shouting matches with other people.
Special Features
The DVD contains some bonus material, including Separatist,
a short film by Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker, presented by
the New York Times Op-Docs. This focuses on Kynan Dutton, and includes some
footage that made it into the feature film. He and his wife talk about why they
want whites to be separate from those with other skin tones.
The special features also include an interview with Mark
Potok, of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He talks about that organization,
and about hate groups. There is one deleted scene which features an interview
with Jeremy Kelly, who organized opposition to the white supremacists, and also
an extended scene of the burning of Cobb’s wooden signs. There are also short
biographies of the filmmakers.
Welcome To Leith was directed by Michael Beach
Nichols and Christopher K. Walker, and was released on DVD today (February 9,
2016) through First Run Features.
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