Film Screening: “Claude McKay: Wandering the World” | ATL Francophonie 2026

SYNOPSIS:

At the crossroads of black literary consciousness and political struggle, Claude McKay’s ideas have laid the foundation for major literary schools of thought, including Negritude.
Proud vagabond with both a bohemian lifestyle and strong political commitments, chameleon with a magnetic personality, he roamed the four corners of the globe: New York’s literary milieu, the Parisian aristocracy, Russia’s communist intelligentsia, and the black diasporas in the port of Marseille.
A huge range of playing fields where he forged bonds with some of the great names of his time, from George Bernard Shaw to W.E.B Du Bois, Trotsky and more. Sustained by his many and varied encounters and experiences on several continents, he developed a radical philosophy that was ahead of his time. Recounting the life of Claude McKay means recounting the life of a politically committed poet with a singular outlook.
The film will recount the remarkable life of a key figure in African-American literature, exploring some of the most important artistic and political aspirations of the early 20th century, including black pride, Marxism and the Harlem Renaissance, while portraying Claude McKay’s path over four continents.
A complete immersion in the 1920s and 1930s, with a visual identity inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and narration buoyed by jazz music that will bring Claude McKay and the people around him to life.
Learn more about the film

Production Cinétévé France, 52 minutes, 2025
This screening will be in French with English subtitles.
WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW:

ABOUT CLAUDE McKAY

@ Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

His poem “If We Must Die” made McKay an iconic figure of the Harlem Renaissance, the African American cultural movement of the 1920s. A writer and lifelong traveler, he left a segregated United States to journey across Europe at the dawn of the 20th century, capturing the atmosphere of the cities he lived in and the social movements he encountered.
In 1923, McKay arrives in Paris; from 1924 to 1928, he lived in Marseille, which became the inspiration for his novels Banjo and Romance in Marseille. From Toulon to Strasbourg, via Douarnenez, he moved easily between working-class circles and literary communities.
His literature from the margins, driven by a raw and uncompromising style, gives voice to dockworkers and the dispossessed. In particular, it depicts the cosmopolitan, working-class life of Marseille. The freedom with which McKay moved through his time, living first as a journalist and then as a writer, is remarkable.
Without taboo, he addressed all forms of sexuality. And when he took on the question of race, he did so more from a social perspective than a purely communal one. A forerunner of the writers of négritude, his originality and universal outlook make him a strikingly relevant figure today.
McKay, one of the architects of an emerging transatlantic Black consciousness paved the way for Aimé Césaire, James Baldwin, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

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Location:
Alliance Française ATL Peachtree Center location – 233 Peachtree St. NE, Suite #100
The Alliance Française Atlanta (and its auditorium) is on the PLAZA LEVEL. Please, study the map below to find the parking garage and the auditorium.
Click here for more details Hours and Directions - Alliance Francaise (afatl.com)

Parking:
Park on Level 2 of the International Parking Garage, across the street from Tin Lizzy's restaurant.
For GPS, use restaurant's address 26 Andrew Young International Blvd NE, Atlanta, GA 30303. The parking entrance (LEFT) is directly across the street from Tin Lizzy's (RIGHT).
To access the Plaza Level, use the alleyway next to the restaurant. Continue straight towards tower 233, passing the fountain on your left. Once in front of the 233 tower lobby, the auditorium's entrance is on your right.
Please note no parking validation will be provided.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Alliance Française of Atlanta, 233 Peachtree Street Northeast, Atlanta, United States

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