Everything has been said and written about the success of Justine Triet's Anatomie d'une chute (Anatomy of a Fall) and its incredible journey from the Palme d'Or at Cannes to the 90 festival awards, the five Oscar nominations and finally the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay − written by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari − received on the night of Sunday, March 10.

Contacted on the eve of the ceremony, the producers, Marie-Ange Luciani (Les Films de Pierre) and David Thion (Les Films Pelléas), were savoring this final stretch, with voting closed since February 27. "We're well aware of how rare this is in a producer's career, when the planets align like this," said Luciani. "To be able to experience this at least once, with David, we say to ourselves that we're incredibly lucky."

Thion added, "I don't know what this experience will change in our work, as each film is a prototype. We have to fight to edit and finance our films, and that's not going to change. It's especially for Justine that the situation will change," he pointed out, as the film approaches $32 million in worldwide box office sales.

Marie-Ange Luciani confirmed this: "Anatomy is in theaters in China, so it's a huge release. If the film does well, that means it will have touched every continent. There are very few French directors to succeed on such a scale, perhaps Jacques Audiard, and also François Ozon. Justine is the first female French director to occupy this position internationally."

In Hollywood, Triet has built up "a network": "She's met actresses and actors who have come to see her at the hotel to discuss the film or future projects. She's met Scorsese and, soon, Spielberg."

When asked if they'll be working together again, Luciani and Thion replied in unison: "Yes, for Justine's next film! After the Oscars, we'll give her time to rest, and we'll see each other in September."

The other unexpected factor was the dog's irresistible popularity: The border collie Messi, aka Snoop in the film, has become a heart-throb in the United States. He had his press day in Los Angeles, then returned for the ceremony with his owner and trainer Laura Martin. The young woman has been working with the animal for six years: "I started my career as a film coach with Messi, and he was my crash-test dog actor," she said. "Before Anatomy of a Fall, Messi was never cast, at least not for big performances. He'd done commercials, music videos and so on. He has a very distinctive physique, with his light eyes, maybe he was taking up too much screen space." Anatomy of a Fall is Messi's first major role. "We made a lot of attempts to pull off the scene where Messi plays dead. Justine wanted the animal to be able to be carried while looking inert."

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