the fight of the chambermaids of a large Parisian palace in a moving choral film

With this new social chronicle, Nessim Chikhaoui cultivates his vein as a social and committed filmmaker.

After recounting his experience as an educator in Placed, his first feature film, Nessim Chikhaoui depicts the fight of the chambermaids of a large Parisian palace in a second committed film, full of life and emotion. Coincidence of the calendar, Little hands releases in theaters on May 1, Labor Day.

Eva (Lucie Charles-Alfred), in her early twenties, is not her first job as a chambermaid. But when she joins the team of a Parisian palace, a completely different job awaits her. In this large hotel where guests pay several thousand euros per night for their suite, everything must be impeccable. Employed by a subcontractor, she joins the team of “externals”, sub-staff of an already well exploited staff…

“Welcome to the Kingdom of Minions”Ali tells him in the basement of the hotel, a veritable second world hidden underground, where the “little hands of the palace”. The team leader entrusts Eva to the care of Simone, the oldest member of the team, a woman with a strong character, broken by years of work. His “supervisor” is responsible for explaining to him the difference between the Ibis and the palace spirit, and introducing him to the precise functioning of the tasks to be accomplished, under the sharp eye of Agnès (Mariama Gueye), the strict housekeeper in charge to enforce management’s orders…

“A room at 9,800 euros gross”

On the sidewalk, in front of the palace doors, a handful of employees are on picket line to demand better working conditions and decent wages. Forty-five minutes of “credit” per room, on the clock, not enough vacuum cleaners, limited cleaning products, unattractive customers…

Eva discovers the eccentricities of an above-ground clientele, the 75-euro club sandwich and the room “9,800 euros gross” for one night, or ten times the monthly salary of most of the palace’s employees…

Safiatou (Marie-Sohna Condé), Aïssata (Maïmouna Gueye), Violette (Salimata Kamaté)… Eva quickly finds a place among this small, close-knit troupe, made up of joyful women despite the hardness of their work and their lives. Over time, Eva builds an almost filial relationship with the surly Simone, who hides a heart of gold.

Behind the scenes of the palace, the young woman discovers fraternity and solidarity, almost a family, who will eventually take off the uniform and join the battle to earn better salaries, have better working conditions, but above all, regain dignity.

“The struggle pays”

The scenario of Little hands is inspired by several social movements in hotels, such as that led in 2018 by the chambermaids of the Park Hyatt Paris-Vandôme, who ended up winning their case after 87 days of strike. In these large hotels, hierarchy, relationships of economic, gender (no male chambermaids), and cultural domination are at their peak.

“They don’t listen to us. They don’t see us, we are their little hands.” So, in the cozy corridors and luxurious rooms the richest and the poorest coexist without crossing paths. Nessim Chikhaoui skillfully seizes this contrasting microcosm to make it an emblematic motif of the social divide. The film deliberately places us on the side of the “invisibles” without ever showing the slightest rich client or boss, in an inversion showing those who are usually hidden from the eyes of the world, and making invisible those who are usually at the forefront. the scene.

An idea assumed from start to finish, which gives the film its flavor and its effectiveness, resolutely committed to the side of the “weakest”, those who get up early in the morning, often have papers to renew, a whole family to feed. These “invisibles” are shown here not as whining victims, but as a community of human beings worthy of respect and capable of taking, like Eva, their destiny into their own hands.

“The struggle pays”, says Simone. This is what this choral film shows, full of life and paradoxically joy, representative of French society as a whole (once is not customary). With a rhythmic staging, unsurprising, but generous, this social chronicle in the vein of British cinema, is served by a magnificent team of actresses around Corinne Masiero, against the employment of a character in the rank limit react, of Kool Shen as a discreet but stubborn trade unionist, and Lucie Charles-Alfred, a young actress full of promise in the role of young Eva.

The sheet

Gender : VSdramatic omedy
Director: Nessim Chikhaoui
Actors: Corinne Masiero, Lucie Charles-Alfred, Marie-Sohna Condé
Country : France
Duration : 1h27
Exit : 1st May 2024
Distributer : The pact