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.

[2] Like Voltaire‘s Candide in his eponymous novel, Jallel, a young North African man, dreaming of better prospects, immigrates illegally to France.

But soon he gets to sell fruits in the underground, albeit illegally.

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] "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.