[7] Patrice Chéreau, director of the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre where she began attending drama classes in 1984, gave her a role in the film Hôtel de France in 1987.

In 1993, director Alain Resnais asked them to write an adaptation of Alan Ayckbourn's 8-part play Intimate Exchanges, which became the 2-part film Smoking/No Smoking.

In 1996, they came to know greater success with Cédric Klapisch's adaptation of their play Family Resemblances (Un air de famille), which showed their ability to observe and depict everyday life, and to criticize the social norms through bitter and corrosive humor.

Jaoui directed her first feature film, The Taste of Others (Le Goût des autres, 2000, written with Bacri), which questions social-cultural identities.

In 2004, Jaoui's second film as a director, Look at Me (Comme une image), co-written with Bacri, was selected for the Cannes Festival and won the prize for Best Screenplay.

She starred in the last Richard Dembo's film, La maison de Nina (2005) and then focused on music and released her album of Latin songs, Canta (2006).

She returned to cinema in 2008 with Let's Talk About the Rain (Parlez-moi de la pluie), with French humorist Jamel Debbouze in a different role from what he was used to.