Welcome to Leith

This documentary speaks volumes and is very relevant to America in 2016-2018 with what is happening in the news.

This should be shown in every school to help fight hatred and learn how to stand up to them. Kudos to the producers for making such an important piece and getting it out there

This film definitely gets the conflict: a dying town receives new arrivals who they do not want. We see a lot of bad behavior, without seeing how it came about. We hear a lot about how people feel -- but not how they got there. We see a lot of things, but we don't see the causes; we can only accept what the film shows us.

In this way, "Welcome to Leith" is very much a shaped film about real people in a real event. Sympathy clearly exists for the townspeople, but we are also given good exposure to the newcomers, who present their views openly. Unexplored is how the behavior of the good townspeople is often worse than that of the prejudiced newcomers -- or is it? We don't know, but in this film we see property destruction only by one side, and it's not the newcomers.

Making issues more complicated, the arguments given by the old-timers only tangle things further; we can imagine the same arguments happening in dying white towns receiving new non-white occupants. Sure, the answer feels obvious to all of us -- but you can't argue a feeling into a legal action ... or can you?

Perhaps the filmmakers realized all this; the title alone is ironic, since clearly the town of Leith is *not* welcoming these people. But in a free democracy, property up for sale can be bought by anyone interested. What we haven't figured out how to manage, is how to balance the rights of the existing inhabitants with those of the newcomers. "Welcome to Leith" shows this problem is still very much alive -- regardless of which side of the Sold sign you're standing on

Excellent film, thoroughly enjoyed it. The stories including the neo nazis and people resisting was so fascinating!

The people that made "Welcome to Leith" did a nice job of presenting a reasonably well balanced and interesting story. While they obviously didn't like the white supremacists featured in the film, they also were sure to present the complete story...warts and all.

The town of Leith is extremely tiny and located in the Dakotas. When a crazed white supremacist arrives there and starts buying up property, folks start getting concerned. When he then starts inviting in other like-minded jerks, the town starts to react...strongly. What follows is a film that consists of showing the tiny town's efforts to get rid of the supremacists and prevent them from taking over Leith. Unfortunately, when the neo-Nazis actually do something that might be illegal, some of the townsfolks manage to undo the state's case by talking out of turn...and some of these people later blame the state for the case falling apart. However, the way I saw the film I don't believe the authorities LEGALLY had much more they could do about the supremacists...and the film leaves everything in limbo. This could REALLY benefit from a follow-up to know what subsequently occurred.

As I mentioned, the people who made the film were great--they were very thorough and did a wonderful job in presenting both sides. It's not 100% satisfying to watch, however, for two reasons. First, in real life things often DON'T work out perfectly...as the film illustrates. And, Second, despite 99.9% of the viewers wanting to see these neo-Nazis die or go to prison forever, legally this wasn't possible due to Constitutionally guaranteed rights...even the right to be an evil, nasty, hateful individual! To me this isn't a bad thing...everyone deserves protection--whether or not they are nice people...though I am sure many will be angered by this. Despite its shortcomings, it does make for an interesting documentary as well as a great civics lesson.

This reminded me of Wild Wild Country where a band of renegades takes over a small town for their own nefarious purposes. Both end almost the same way. But Leith was only 2hrs vs WWC at 6 or 7.

It is a sad state when we can't or won't remember and learn from our own history. This movie does a pretty good job showcasing white supremists and their tactics and the struggle a little known town had to endure because these nuts were trying to prove something.

Well told and fast paced. Would totally recommend.