Featured Article Summary #126

The Great Mecca Feast is a documentary film from 1928 made by George Krugers. It is divided into four acts and follows Muslim pilgrims from the Dutch East Indies as they begin the hajj, while also showing daily life and worship in the Hejaz region of Arabia. Because Mecca was closed to non-Muslims, Krugers disguised himself as a Muslim to record the pilgrimage, and he received help from people in both the Dutch East Indies and the Hejaz. He hoped the film would be shown at the Paris Colonial Exposition, and it was well received when it premiered in the Netherlands in 1928, but later screenings were uncommon and it largely disappeared from public view. It is often described as the first documentary about the hajj and is the only surviving film by Krugers that is known today. Interest in the film grew again in the 2010s, when scholars studied it in relation to colonial influence and its value as a source on pilgrims’ firsthand experiences. The Great Mecca Feast follows four stages: men from the Dutch East Indies buy hajj tickets and travel by ship to Jeddah, experience daily life there, take part in the main hajj rituals, and then sail back home. In Jeddah, the film shows pilgrim life and landmarks like the Kaaba and Zamzam Well, then moves through prayers and the key rituals including the walk between Safa and Marwa, the journey to Arafat, and the stoning of the Devil at Mina. After finishing the pilgrimage and returning to Mecca, the pilgrims leave Jeddah by ship and are sent off by the Dutch consul. The Great Mecca Feast was filmed and produced by George Krugers as his first project under his own company, Krugers Filmbedrijf. He chose the hajj pilgrimage because many Westerners were curious about Mecca, while most Muslims in the Dutch East Indies could not easily afford to travel. To document it, he arranged support and traveled to Mecca via Jeddah on a Dutch ship, filming under the guidance of local authorities and keeping some distance from certain holy places. The Great Mecca Feast was first shown in the Dutch East Indies in 1928 and was screened in Europe soon after, with its European premiere in Leiden on 8 November 1928. The event attracted prominent Dutch attendees, and it was supported by introductions and promotions linked to Islamic scholarship and Dutch government marketing. Reviews in newspapers were mostly positive—especially about the “forbidden” appeal and the film’s views—though some critics said the technical quality and editing, such as lighting and pacing, were weak or repetitive. The Great Mecca Feast is considered the first documentary film about the hajj, and unlike many other films by Krugers it still survives: copies were kept in Amsterdam and later donated to the EYE Film Institute Netherlands in 1964, with original nitrate reels stored in Hilversum. After early showings that continued into the 1930s, the film later attracted little attention, but it was re-discussed academically from 2015 onward at Leiden University. Analysis of the film says it reflects a “colonial gaze” shaped by colonial institutions, and it includes errors and major omissions in how the hajj is shown, including key rituals and some festive elements. Others argue it still offers valuable, sometimes intimate views of pilgrims’ experiences and includes details that later changed, though Krugers kept some distance and did not adequately show women’s experiences.