I recently saw the documentary Welcome to Leith, and it blew my mind on so many levels. The basic premise is that in 2012 a man moved to a small North Dakota town with a population of 16, in hopes of starting a white supremacists community. To start with, as a New Yorker, the idea of a town of 16 is mind boggling to me. The idea of a white supremacists community being built from the ground up is also absolutely repugnant. The documentary almost plays out as a horror movie, with the most horrific part being that it is a true story. As disgusting as the idea is, it is encouraging to see the way the community, and members of the surrounding communities rallied against this white supremacist and attempted to force him out. It is equally disheartening however, to see that people moved to the town because they liked the idea. This is especially true given the current political climate and recent events such as those in Charlottesville.
The documentary is both shocking and thought provoking. The primary emotion it made me feel was anger. The very premise is sickening and to see it spreading more and more only makes me angrier. The primary defense for allowing the man to stay is a freedom of speech argument. I’m a huge supporter of freedom of speech but man oh man does this push past my limits. It is interesting to consider how dangerous the precedent of forcing someone out of a town because of their beliefs is, but at the same time, fuck Nazis.
One of the most interesting things to me however, was that the documentary was shot on a budget of 60,000, which was raised via a gofundme campaign. The fact that it was shot for such a low budget really reinforces to me that we can make thought provoking and meaningful documentaries, even as students on low budgets.
