In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Birth of a Movement, director D.W. Griffith, “at the top of his game,” is introduced to the book The Clansman by Thomas Dixon. When The Clansman became a stage play, its pro-KKK, “viciously racist” point of view resulted in protests and race riots — foreshadowing what was … READ MORE

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary Accidental Courtesy, musician Daryl Davis talks with Black Lives Matter activist and speaker Kwame Rose about Davis’s controversial hobby of collecting the robes and hoods of Ku Klux Klan members. Rose is skeptical but interested as Davis defends the fact that he’s befriended some of these men who … READ MORE

In this excerpt from Independent Lens documentary Accidental Courtesy, musician Daryl Davis reveals his shocking hobby: collecting robes and hoods of former Klan members, including those who were Grand Dragons and Imperial Wizards (the top ranking member) in the KKK. Davis says as shameful as they may be, he keeps these garments because they’re a … READ MORE

Renowned musician Daryl Davis has an unusual, controversial hobby: meeting and befriending members of KKK, many of whom have never met a black person. When some decide to leave the Klan, Daryl keeps their robes and hoods, a collection built piece by piece, story by story. Accidental Courtesy captures Daryl’s search for answers to the … READ MORE

Filmmaker Dawn Porter has shown a willingness to probe uncomfortable truths and untold stories in the past. LA Times critic Robert Lloyd called her acclaimed Independent Lens film Spies of Mississippi “eye-opening” for its look at the ways civil rights activists were spied on by the government in the ’50s and ’60s. For her new film, TRAPPED, Porter returns to the … READ MORE

TRAPPED goes inside the contentious issue of abortion rights through the story of health care providers in Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama who are struggling to comply with controversial new TRAP laws (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers). The current case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, will decide whether these laws are constitutional.

Welcome to Leith chronicles the attempted takeover of a small North Dakota town by notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb. As his behavior becomes more threatening, tensions soar, and residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbor.

In this excerpt from Welcome to Leith, Lee and Heather Cook reveal how white supremacist Craig Cobb “doxxed” them — posted their private information online — on the White Nations website.

In Welcome to Leith, the story of what happens when notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb tries to take over a small North Dakota community as a base for himself and his followers, may seem an unusual case. But for those who track hate groups across America it is a less shocking tale. Organizations like the Southern Poverty Law … READ MORE

In this excerpt from Welcome to Leith, avowed white supremacists Craig Cobb and Kynan Dutton patrol the roads of rural Leith while brandishing rifles, angrily confronting longtime residents. Deborah Henderson, Dutton’s partner, trails them, proudly recording their threatening behavior on her cellphone camera.

In this excerpt from Welcome to Leith, Kynan Dutton, an Iraq War veteran and self-proclaimed “proud Aryan” skinhead who moved his family to Leith, North Dakota, plants white supremacy flags in front of neo-Nazi Craig Cobb’s house, while explaining the National Socialist Movement’s anti-multicultural motivations.

Welcome to Leith chronicles the attempted takeover of a small North Dakota town by notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb. As Cobb and his cohorts become more threatening, tensions soar and residents desperately look for ways to expel the unwanted neighbors.