Poetical Refugee

Poetical Refugee
Directed byAbdellatif Kechiche
Written byAbdellatif Kechiche
Produced byJean-François Lepetit
StarringÉlodie Bouchez
Sami Bouajila
Aure Atika
Bruno Lochet
CinematographyDominique Brenguier
Marie-Emmanuelle Spencer
Edited byAnnick Baly
Tina Baz
Amina Mazani
Release date
  • February 14, 2001 (2001-02-14)
Running time
130 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget$1.9 million [1]

Poetical Refugee (French: La Faute à Voltaire) is a 2001 French drama film directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, starring Sami Bouajila, Élodie Bouchez and Bruno Lochet. It was Kechiche‘s debut feature film and was awarded the Luigi De Laurentiis Award at the Venice Film Festival for best first film, winning seven awards, overall, at different film festivals.[2]

Plot

Like Voltaire‘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.[3][4][5]

Cast

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.[6]

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

  1. ^ "La Faute à Voltaire (2001) - JPBox-Office".
  2. ^ "Poetical Refugee(2000): Awards". IMDB. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Poetical Refugee". Kino Festivals. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Poetical Refugee". el Cinema. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  5. ^ "La faute à Voltaire-Multicultural Germany Project". Department of German, University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  6. ^ "La Faute à Voltaire aka Blame It on Voltaire (2000)". Cinema of the World. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2015.