Premiere of The Great Mecca Feast

Date: November 9, 1928 • Location: Rome, Italy

The Great Mecca Feast, the first documentary film on the Hajj, premiered in the Netherlands.

The Great Mecca Feast 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 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.