Peter Jordens shares information about the 2025 documentary Claude McKay, errances d’un poète révolté [Claude McKay: Wanderings of a Rebellious Poet] from an article at Film-Doc (Film-Documentaire.FR). Written and directed by Matthieu Verdeil, the 54-minute documentary is filmed in black and white. As Jordens informs us, screenings in the United States will begin in March 2026. See trailer and screening dates below.
Description: A novelist and poet born in Jamaica, Claude McKay traversed the world between the two world wars as a visionary vagabond, a rebellious poet, and a pioneer of Black consciousness. From New York literary circles to the Parisian intelligentsia, from Bolshevik power circles to the slums of Marseille’s docks, he forged connections with some of the greatest names of his time, from Charlie Chaplin to W.E.B. Du Bois, by way of Trotsky and Fitzgerald, while also fraternizing with sailors and vagrants from across the Black diaspora.
Nourished by his encounters and experiences on several continents, he left behind a vibrant body of work (poetry, novels, and essays) imbued with a radical and visionary philosophy that inspired the Harlem Renaissance as well as Aimé Césaire and the thinkers of Negritude. His powerful poem, If We Must Die, written a century ago against lynching, still resonates today with the same urgency as the slogans of Black Lives Matter.
The film retraces the extraordinary life of this key figure in African American literature, at the crossroads of the most important artistic and political aspirations of the early 20th century. Narrated by Gaël Faye, who brings Claude McKay’s vibrant voice to life, the film allows us to rediscover some of his greatest works, too long overlooked: Banjo, Romance in Marseille, A Long Way to Go … and offers us, through previously unseen archival footage, an odyssey through the history of the early 20th century.
Trailer:
Source: https://www.film-documentaire.fr/4DACTION/w_fiche_film/77418 (translation: Google Translate).
Screenings in the USA will commence in March 2026 and will include:
March 16, Atlanta, GA 30326, https://www.mckay100ans.com/event-details/screening-claude-mclay-wandering-the-world
March 19, Ithaca, NY 14850, https://events.cornell.edu/event/claude-mckay-the-wanderings-of-a-rebellious-poet
March 21, Princeton, NJ 08544, https://frenchfilmfestival.gradlife.princeton.edu/festivalschedule
March 25, New York, NY 10012, https://www.healingartsnewyork.org/events/claude-mckay-wandering-the-world
March 25, New York, NY 10003, https://cbvc.nyu.edu/upcoming-events
Peter Jordens shares information about the 2025 documentary Claude McKay, errances d’un poète révolté [Claude McKay: Wanderings of a Rebellious Poet] from an article at Film-Doc (Film-Documentaire.FR). Written and directed by Matthieu Verdeil, the 54-minute documentary is filmed in black and white. As Jordens informs us, screenings in the United States will begin in March
