Claude McKay, From Harlem to Marseille + Q&A with director Matthieu Verdeil

Princeton Film Festival Society

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of McKay's formative trips to Europe and Africa, come watch the very first documentary on this poet!

Betts Auditorium, School of Architecture

As part of the Princeton French Film Series, you're invited to watch Claude McKay, From Harlem to Marseille (2023) by filmmaker Matthieu Verdeil, who will be in attendance for a Q&amp;A.Practical information: Open to everyone upon registration. In French and English with English subtitles, the screening will start at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, October 8th, 2025, and will last approximately 70 minutes. Doors to the screening room open at 6:15 PM.Synopsis: Matthieu Verdeil directed the first documentary devoted to the work and tumultuous life of Claude McKay, the Jamaican poet and writer. Punctuated with archival footage and readings set against swing music, the film is an incredible journey through the 1920s, from Marseille to Harlem, and on to Jamaica, Russia, and Morocco. It evokes the artistic avant-gardes of the early century that McKay encountered in New York with the Harlem Renaissance and later in Europe, the social movements he chronicled in England, and the political figures he met such as Trotsky. One comes away struck by the great freedom with which McKay moved through his era, becoming a forerunner of both literature and the Black cause. Sponsors: Princeton Film Festival Society; Program in European Culture Studies; Program in Film Studies.