''Poetical Refugee'' (french: La Faute à Voltaire) is a 2001 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, starring

Sami Bouajila Sami Bouajila (born 26 May 1966) is a French actor who has won two César Awards. Bouajila has worked and acted in two Oscar nominated films ('' Days of Glory'' and '' Outside the Law''), both directed by director Rachid Bouchareb. Early life Bo ...

Élodie Bouchez Élodie Bouchez-Bangalter (born 5 April 1973) is a French actress. She became internationally known for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show ''Alias'' and for playing Maïté Alvarez in the film '' Wild ...

and

Bruno Lochet Bruno Lochet (born 18 October 1959) is a French actor. He is best known for playing in the cult TV series '' Les Deschiens'' (1993–2002), in which he played alongside Yolande Moreau Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedi ...

. It was Kechiche‘s debut feature film and was awarded the Luigi De Laurentiis Award at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

for best first film, winning seven awards, overall, at different film festivals.

Plot

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

‘s Candide in his eponymous novel, Jallel, a young North-African man, dreaming of better prospects, immigrates illegally to France. He struggles at first as he is unable to find work and finds it difficult to make friends. But soon he gets to sell fruits in the underground, albeit illegally. He also makes some new friends and then falls in love. But his dreams of success remain unrealized as he comes to discover and share the solidarity of the other outcasts going from one encounter to the other, making his way through Paris, from hostels to immigrant aid societies and social welfare groups, living among the excluded and the destitute.

Cast

: Lucie *

: Jallel * Aure Atika : Nassera *

: Franck *

Mustapha Adouani Mustapha Adouani ( ar, مصطفى العدواني) (October 2, 1946 – December 14, 2006 in Tunis) was a Tunisian actor. Filmography *1984: ''Par où t'es rentré? On t'a pas vu sortir'' by Philippe Clair *1986: '' L'Homme de cendres'' by ...

: Mostfa *

Carole Franck Carole Franck (born 1970 in Paris) is a French actress. Filmography Dubbing Theatre References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Franck, Carole Living people French film actresses French television actresses Actresses from Par ...

: Barbara * Virginie Darmon : Leila * Olivier Loustau : Antonio * François Genty : Paul * Sami Zitouni : Nono * Jean-Michel Fête : Philippe * Manuel Le Lièvre : André

Critical reception

"With superb performances by Sami Bouajila (Bye Bye), Aure Atika and Elodie Bouchez (The Dream Life of Angels), Poetical Refugee offers a moving and tender portrayal of life on the margins, a review by ''Cinema of the World'' noted.

Accolades

;Angers European First Film Festival-2001 *European Special Jury Award *Jean Carmet Award for the ensemble of actors. ;Cologne Mediterranean Film Festival-2001 *Best Actress to Élodie Bouchez ;Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film-2000 *Jury Special Prize *Youth Jury Emile Cantillon Award *nominated for Golden Bayard Best Film (Meilleur Film Francophone) ;Venice Film Festival-2000 *Cinema for Peace Award *Luigi De Laurentiis Award

References

External links

* *
Poetical Refugee at UniFrance Films
{{Abdellatif Kechiche 2001 films 2001 drama films 2000s French-language films Films directed by Abdel Kechiche French drama films 2000s French films