Welcome to Leith 2015

Leith, North Dakota, a registered ghost town with a mere 24 residents, presents a landscape that is both haunting and beautiful. The majority of its inhabitants are farmers and ranchers, cultivating land that has been handed down through generations. Surrounded by a stunning prairie backdrop, with vast skies and expansive fields of wheat, the town has an apocalyptic allure that captivates those who pass through.

In May 2012, the tranquility of Leith was disrupted by an outsider named Craig Cobb, who began purchasing property within the town. Over time, he amassed twelve plots, some vacant and others featuring houses in varying degrees of disrepair. Residents initially speculated that Cobb’s intentions were linked to the Bakken oil fields located approximately 70 miles to the north. However, it soon became clear that Cobb was infamous for his extremist beliefs and had sinister plans for the town, which included a proposed takeover of the local government.

As the situation escalated, other like-minded individuals, part of Cobb’s white separatist ideology, moved in to assist in rehabilitating his acquired properties. The film WELCOME TO LEITH offers a profound insight into the struggle for autonomy faced by the community against the radical vision of one man. Documented over an intense eight-month period, it captures the events surrounding Cobb’s arrest for instilling fear among the townspeople during an armed patrol, as well as his eventual release from incarceration six months later.

Through its unsettling narrative, WELCOME TO LEITH serves as an eerie chronicle of American ideals, revealing the complexities and challenges of a small town grappling with the implications of extremist viewpoints in one of the least populated states in the nation.