Petites mains

Twenty-year-old Eva joins the housekeeping team at a luxury hotel that has earned the “palace” designation, putting it in the highest tier of the French hotel industry. Working alongside Safietou, Aïssata, Violette, and Simone—a team of varied ages and backgrounds—Eva comes face-to-face with the harsh reality of poor working conditions. The fee for a single night at the hotel matches a housekeeper’s annual salary. They must never let the guests see how they work tirelessly to maintain the high standards required. The majority of such women, expected to function as invisible entities, are not employed directly by the hotels but by subcontractors. The women strike in an effort to compel the subcontractors to improve their working conditions, and come up with the colorful idea of holding their own “fashion week” in front of the hotel. In his second film as director, Nessim Chikhaoui—who has also worked as a screenwriter—has created a superb social comedy that will resonate with workers not only in France, but around the world.