Exclusive Screening: Light on the Legacy of Poet Claude McKay
A major figure of the Harlem Renaissance, the African American cultural movement of the 1920s, Claude McKay was an engaged poet and novelist, travelling across the US, Russia, Europe, and North Africa. For nearly two decades, he captured the energy of cities and their social movements, shaping a body of work that remains strikingly relevant today.
On March 16 at the Alliance Française and on March 13th at Georgia State University, the French producer and director Matthieu Verdeil will present his remarkable documentary portrait Claude McKay, Wanderings of a Rebellious Poet. The film, illustrated with rare archival footage and photographs, told in his own words, narrated by Gaël Faye, and set to a stirring soundtrack, brings his legacy to life. Each screening will be followed by a Q&A.
Born in Jamaica, McKay moved to the US to attend college. Confronted with segregation, racism and violence in the country, he wrote his famous anti-lynching poem , “If We Must Die”, standing for dignity and rebellion. Soon after, he left the segregated South and embarked on a long journey through the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, France, Spain, and Morocco, where he immersed himself in socialist circles and was confronted with the social issues of his time. His work shed light on the dispossessed and the working-class, notably in Marseille, portrayed in his novel Romance in Marseille. Over about fifteen years, his international experiences shaped his radical political thought, as well as his Pan-African and anti-colonial outlook.
Production Cinétévé France, 52 minutes, 2025
Doors open at 6:30 PM with the film starting at 7:15 PM. This screening will be in French with English subtitles.
Learn more about the event here, and the Atlanta Francophonie Festival here.
About Matthieu Verdeil
For over 20 years, film director and producer Matthieu Verdeil has pursued a distinctive path at the crossroads of history, memory, and artistic creation. He dedicates much of his career to rediscovering overlooked figures and movements in cultural history, including Varian Fry and Claude McKay.
In 2021, Verdeil directed Claude McKay: From Harlem to Marseille, the first documentary devoted to the “vagabond poet.” Combining historical rigor with poetic sensitivity, the film was screened in France, the United States (New York, Washington, Chicago), Germany, the United Kingdom and beyond.
Building on this work, Verdeil launched Les Années McKay (2023–2028), under the patronage of Christiane Taubira. Among its highlights was KAY! Letters to a Lost Poet – a performance blending jazz, slam poetry, and archival material – created in collaboration with actor-musician Lamine Diagne and American poet Mike Ladd.
In 2025, he completed a second documentary on Claude McKay, narrated by Gaël Faye, scheduled for broadcast in 2026 alongside new book releases and an audio album of McKay’s texts.
Currently, Verdeil is preparing a new television film dedicated to the Harlem Renaissance.