The Diary of a Chambermaid

Directors' Fortnight, Cannes 2026

Original language: French, Romanian

Subtitles: Romanian, English

Directed by: Radu Jude

Country: France, Romania

Year of production: 2026

Length: 94 minutes

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Gianina, a young Romanian, works as a housekeeper for a bourgeois family in Bordeaux. In the evenings, she rehearses the role of a maid with an amateur theater troupe in an adaptation of The Diary of a Chambermaid by Octave Mirbeau. She takes care of Louen, her employers’ son, while her own daughter is growing up far from her, in Romania. The maternal absence deepens into a wound but, as Christmas approaches, the promise of a reunion begins to take shape.

Credits

Radu Jude – Director

Radu Jude – Script

Casting

Ana Dumitrașcu

Mélanie Thierry

Vincent Macaigne

Marie Rivière

Louen Bouteiller

Ilinca Manolache