The Great Mecca Feast

The Great Mecca Feast (Dutch: Het Groote Mekka-Feest) is a 1928 silent documentary film by George Krugers. Divided into four acts, it opens with a group of Muslim men from the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) beginning the Hajj pilgrimage, then showcases elements of everyday life and worship in the Hejaz region of the Arabian Peninsula – including the Hajj itself. As Mecca had long been closed to non-Muslims, Krugers passed as a Muslim and recorded film and still-photographic documentation of the pilgrimage. In this endeavour, he was supported by people in both the Dutch East Indies and the Hejaz. Krugers intended for The Great Mecca Feast to be screened at the Paris Colonial Exposition. Although it was well-received upon its Dutch première on 9 November 1928, subsequent showings were rare and the film faded into obscurity. Described as the first documentary about the Hajj, the film is the only one of Krugers's works known to have survived. The Great Mecca Feast began receiving scholarly interest in the 2010s. Since then, it has been analysed within the context of colonial networks and control over the Hajj process, as well as a primary document providing insight into the experiences of contemporary pilgrims.