Nessim Chikhaoui & Lucie Charles-Alfred (“Petites Mains”) “If it can awaken certain consciences, we will have gained something” –

On this International Workers’ Day, Nessim Chikhaoui’s second feature film is released, inspired by the struggles of hotel maids. We meet him with his favorite performer, Lucie Charles-Alfred, during the Rencontres du Sud and the Rencontres du cinéma de Gérardmer…

Did you see Stand up women ?

Nessim Chikhaoui : No. Neither Full time, because I was in the middle of writing and I didn’t want to censor myself by seeing things, nor to inspire myself from others unconsciously. I really wanted to have my own thing, without having a negative or positive influence. Except for the real protagonists: I met Rachel Kéké, her wrestling sidekicks, plus other women in other hosts. I followed a maid for a day to chat, to inspire me, to pick up anecdotes or things in life. It nourished me a lot; afterwards we had to dig, invent, accentuate.

But this is not a biopic about Rachel. There is Park Hayatt in 2018, there were a lot of them in Marseille. In the end, I wanted to mention the Ibis, the Park Hayatt but I didn’t want to stay only with these struggles; it would make others invisible – plus it started in Spain. I didn’t want to shed light on just one. And then Rachel is a figure in this struggle. She was elected a deputy, but others continued to serve as maids.

Did you easily find a hotel to accommodate you?

NC: No way ! (laughs) It was a bit complicated and not in the interest of most people. We had the chance to shoot at the Bristol, a renowned palace which has the particularity of having internalized its chambermaids. It is managed by a family, not by a large group with shareholders. That’s often what independent hotels are all about.

In your first film Placed, there was an autobiographical part where you used your knowledge of the educational environment. Was it more difficult here to enter into a story in which you were less involved?

NC: More difficult, yes. Already, writing for women is not necessarily easy when you are a man. I had the chance to meet trade unionists who led different struggles and who shared a lot of their experience with us, told a lot of anecdotes and explained everything about subcontracting, hierarchy in hotels… That made me happy. was very useful. They were people from the CGT, that’s why we only see them. I met these maids. My aunts were hotel maids; my mother was a personal care assistant. So I drew from all the slices of life, these characters that I met. I put a little of myself into certain things. Already, my values, my struggles and my demands…

And then, I took the liberty of putting Lucie Charles-Alfred, who played Emma in Placed. I wanted to do a sort of sequel to her character — I just changed a letter from Emma to Eva.

Lucie, did you feel the evolution of the character, a writing made for you? And more anecdotally, what is this story about square teeth? [une des femmes de chambre affirme que son personnage est antillais en voyant ses dents, NDR] ?

Lucie Charles-Alfred : Square teeth? (Nessim laughs) No, but my teeth are square! In fact, in the Antilles, I also notice, we have square teeth. My dad is West Indian from Martinique and he has square teeth, his sister has square teeth… It’s something I didn’t know before Nessim wrote it.

So he was inspired by you…

LCA : Yes, he wrote for me.

NC : In fact, I had a friend, a colleague from Martinique. I invite him to the premiere of Placed and he sees Lucie who is blonde with blue eyes. We cannot say that she is West Indian. But when you know…

LCA : Yes, there are some who see it Really, it depends.

NC : And suddenly my friend sees it and says to me: “ she’s from us — How do you know? “He shows me his teeth” —She has square teeth, she is from us » To be sure, every time I met West Indian friends: “—Show your teeth » (laughs) Well, there are some who don’t have them, obviously, but many, really many do. I had an Algerian friend married to a Guadeloupean; When I told her that, she burst out laughing: “ But our daughter also has square teeth! » That’s why, I wanted to be really sure, for Lucie, to say that she is West Indian. Plus, I knew that this identity was important to him, too.

LCA : Keep heart ? Yeah, I understand what you’re saying, but I received a lot of criticism for this when I was younger. It was really a subject in my life: people insulted me, truly. By telling myself that I wasn’t from Martinique, that I wanted to act like myself, that I wanted to invent an identity for myself… Afterwards, I told myself that they were ignorant people. You’re wasting no more time answering them. You have to evolve. But in any case, it particularly touches me, it’s true that there is this touch of me. Truly.

And then, it also shows the mix: in fact, in the West Indies, there are lots of people who have my skin color. And who have blue eyes: I have lots of cousins ​​who are lighter than me. My little sister, she has blonder hair and is lighter than me.

As for the scenario, Nessim offered it to me in July 2022. I was super happy. I had already heard a little bit about the fact that he was going to make a second film, that maybe I was going to be called back but nothing was certain. And there: “ Here, you read, you call me, I’ll suggest it to you. » And I was immediately hooked. I immediately saw myself in the role and in this group.

Do you see yourself in an evolution of this character in another film?

LCA : Um…No, not now. Maybe later. I know Nessim… can I speak for you?

NC : Go ahead !

LCA : There, he wants to do a lighter comedy. But then maybe, yeah.

NC : In idea I would like it.

To follow on from Emma who becomes Eva, you show the situation of 18-21 year olds after the home, who are experiencing a rather strange situation. This is not related to outsourced maids, but it shows a constant concern on your part…

NC: We do not remain unscathed after 10 years as an educator. The subject of child protection necessarily touches me. It’s very brief in the film, but important for me to include. Don’t just say, “ ok I made a film on child protection, let’s move on “. I continue in this approach. And what’s more, it’s interesting that a young person in a social hotel works as a chambermaid in a luxury hotel. I found the parallel quite nice. And continue to try to put this subject back on the table.

Why did you choose Kool Shen to play the union leader?

NC: Already because the real leader was a man. And it was good to bring back a masculine element. I already had a lot of female roles and I found it interesting that it was Kool Shen who played this role.

You also chose a young black woman to play the head housekeeper, who has a slightly offbeat relationship with the other maids…

NC: I was hesitant with another actress that I really liked, but it’s true that the fact that Mariama Gueye is black, it was also important to show this complexity: already being younger. When you are a housekeeper and young, managing older women can be complicated. And the fact that she is black, we say to ourselves that in her backstory, perhaps her mother or her aunts must have gone through these stages. So, it strengthened the character – which was not that obvious, in addition and which Mariama interprets correctly: empathetic and at the same time upright, rigid… We feel an important humanity; that’s why she also joins the movement when she finds herself all alone. You cannot not be attached to your team when you are a manager. When you do your job, it remains human relationships.

Eva suspects that she herself was once a maid…

NC: What I had written at the beginning but which I removed — but even when you cut, things remain — her mother was a maid, but she didn’t want to be like that mother and she made a hospitality school.

My father arrived from Tunisia. He was a dishwasher, he did housework and then he sold oriental pastries across France and since he was little, he told me: “ you will be a lawyer or a doctor “. Unfortunately for him, I was an educator (laughs). When you come from Tunisia, and you didn’t have running water or electricity and you went to fetch water on the back of a donkey, you say to yourself: my son, he won’t do that. We plan ahead. I don’t say to mine: “ You will be a doctor.” Succeeding in life really means doing what you want. “ If you want to be a cleaner and that’s your aspiration, you will do it. » What is important is to be in agreement with your life choice and to be happy.

You don’t show the patterns…

NC: No. As in Placed, where I did not show the parents of the young people, I did not want to stigmatize or be in a cliché. For me, it’s not a film against the hierarchy, against hotels, but about the importance of social dialogue and direct dialogue. The maids I met, who made protests at the Ibis, were not internalized or given everything she asked for, but say they earned consideration. They speak directly as soon as there is something, there is no longer any need to do all this manifestation. I don’t show customers either. They are present by their absence: we see their clothes on the ground. I am not here to divide. What interested me was the women’s brigades; so I only shed light on them.

Can this film, and others in the same vein, change customer mentalities?

NC: I don’t think it will change anything at the political or subcontracting level. THE Miserable was a big success and had left its mark; six months later, there were still riots, we were still facing the same problems and I think it will get worse and worse. So I don’t think that will change. But a lot of people have told me that afterward they will tip the maids. I never did it and since I started writing, I’ve left some. So these are mini things but if we can have that…

But it’s not just palace customers: there are cinema operators who told me that it’s the same with popcorn and cokes. If it’s not you, someone else will pick it up. I hope it can awaken. I don’t pretend to say that my film will be seen by 60 million French people; I don’t know the impact it will have, but if it can raise some awareness. we will have gained something. Perhaps people who are already educated, who already have values; maybe it will remind them of things.

Netflix appears in co-production…

NC: But it was Le Pacte which was at the origin, by Alice Labadie who suggested the subject to me because she had produced Placed. When she saw him, before he came out, she said to me: “ It’s been a year since I wanted to make a film about these women who took part in demonstrations. Maybe you’re the right person because I really want the tone Placed : talk about a strong subject, but without being miserable. » Le Pacte was really the first to finance, then we came with my producer Matthieu Tarot. Netflix came really at the last minute and saved us because we were having trouble financing the film. Here we go. I don’t know their policy, but I believe they have a budget for small social films. Now, they are integrated into the financing of French cinema. They are doing their part, which is good.