All the Details on 'Anatomy of a Fall' Director Justine Triet's Partner, Arthur Harari

Harari is a French film director, screenwriter and actor who's best known for Anatomy of a Fall, Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle and La Main Sur la Gueule. It seems that talent runs in the family, because Harari is the grandson of Clément Harari, an Egyptian-French actor. His brother, Tom, is a cinematographer, and his other brother, Lucas, is a graphic novelist.

Harari made his feature directorial debut in 2016 with the heist film, Dark Inclusion. His acting credits include The Goldman Case, Sibyl, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Victoria and Anatomy of a Fall. The latter earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, a British Independent Film Award and an Oscar nomination.

While chatting with Cineuropa in 2016 about the trajectory of his career, Harari said, "I want to avoid making films like everybody else is doing. There are beautiful films in France, but I have such a passion for cinema and for storytelling that, for me, what’s happening in France nowadays is not good enough."

He continued, "The cinema situation is quite complex today. There have never been so many films in the whole world, so many festivals, so many people writing on films, but there are a lot of fakes, a lot of false genius and deceiving propositions.  I want to make honest and strong films that are a little more than what I see."

The couple haven't discussed how or when they met, but we do know that they worked together for the first time in 2013. Triet wrote and directed the comedy drama, Age of Panic, while Harari starred as Arthur.

While chatting with Film Doo, Triet opened up about the filmmaking process for Age of Panic and Victoria. She said, "The two films are intertwined and made in continuity. There is even an identical line in both films. Even though I have a deep affection for Age of Panic and the actors, I questioned myself and my working approach afterwards. I certainly didn’t want to have a shoot planning. I don’t like those who hide behind their style, their trademark and claim that this is the way they do it. Here, I wanted to control the image more." 

The couple are in a long-term relationship, but they are not married.

During a panel discussion at the New York Film Festival in 2023, NYFF artistic director Dennis Lim asked the couple to discuss their experience working together, saying, "I don't know if people know, but you are partners, too." Both Triet and Harari smiled and nodded in response, confirming that they are partners and not husband and wife.

The director sang her partner's praises in a 2023 interview with France TV, noting that while there were "little moments of disagreement," she enjoyed collaborating with him on Anatomy of a Fall.

She said, "The question of being a couple does not arise when we work together, it is another part of our lives. He’s a work partner. It's very stimulating. That is to say, he is someone who, even when we write together, I don't see him as a screenwriter. He's a director."

She continued, "He has a strong point of view. Sometimes we don't agree, and it's interesting, and I find it joyful to be able to work together, which doesn't happen often for us in reality."

Harari also chimed in, adding that they don't plan on working together again soon. He said, “I don't think we'll work together again either, and this is the last time we'll do it, really. The film is quite strong. I think we live with the films we make and the ghosts of the film that inhabit us for several years. It's hard to get rid of it. We wore it for three years, so that’s good, but we won’t do it again.”