The Great Mecca Feast

The Great Mecca Feast (Dutch: Het Groote Mekka-Feest) is a 1928 documentary film by George Krugers. Divided into four acts, it opens with a group of Muslim men from the Dutch East Indies who undertake the hajj pilgrimage, then showcases elements of everyday life and worship in the Hejaz – 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, 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, 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' 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.