Triet is a graduate of the
Beaux-Arts de Paris.[1] The majority of her early work consisted of short documentary filmmaking focused on social justice issues and commentary, beginning with Sur Place (2007), L’Orde des mots (2007), Solférino (2009), and Des ombres dans la maison (2010).[4]On the Spot or Sur Place (2007), shot, edited, and directed by Triet, is a documentary film depicting the
2006 youth protests in France with a more nuanced coverage than what was televised.[5]Binding Words or L’Orde des mots (2007), co-directed and edited by Triet, tackles questions of sexual identity head on.[6]Solférino (2009), shot, edited, and directed by Triet, covered the 2007 French presidential election.[7]Shadows in the House or Des ombres dans la maison (2010), shot, edited, and directed by Triet, focuses on Paulo Gustavo's life with his mother who struggles with alcoholism.[8]
In 2012, Triet began to shift away from documentary films, writing and directing her first short film, Two Ships, which garnered a total of 9 total awards and 6 additional nominations in the film festival circuit that year, including Best European Short Film at the
Berlin International Film Festival and Grand Prize for the Best International Short-film at the
Angers European First Film Festival.[9]
Triet is in a relationship with French filmmaker
Arthur Harari,[2] with whom she has two daughters.[24] The couple first worked together on Triet's Age of Panic (2013), with Arthur starring as the friend and the lawyer of Laetitia's boyfriend. Since then, the couple had occasionally helped with each others projects, the most recent one being Anatomy of a Fall (2023); however, they do not plan to collaborate on any future projects following the completion of this film.[25]
Triet is a member of the French gender equality group Collectif 50/50.[26][27]
While receiving her
Palme d'Or at the
2023 Cannes Film Festival, Triet declared her support for the
pension reform protest movement and opposed to President
Emmanuel Macron's repression of it. She accused the "neo-liberal government" of fostering cultural commercialization and weakening France's cultural exceptionalism.[28] Triet dedicated her prize to new directors and those facing challenges in the film industry, urging greater chances and support for rising talent. Her remarks linked to debates that took place in France in October 2022 at the Appel aux Etats Generaux (Call for General Assemblies), an exhibition conference,[29] during which some industry insiders blamed French "
auteur" filmmaking for dwindling box office and urged for a reduction in French film output.[30] Triet's speech was criticized by Macron's party, right-wing activists and politicians, and by French culture minister
Rima Abdul Malak, who said she was "flabbergasted by such unfair comments."[31] Triet's speech received support from left-wing politicians and the SRF, the French directors's guild.[32][29] According to Variety, several French insiders claimed that Triet was "punished" for criticizing Macron when France's Oscar committee chose to submit The Taste of Things over Anatomy of a Fall to represent the country in the
Best International Feature Film category at the
96th Academy Awards.[33]
In January 2024, she signed a petition against
Javier Milei's reforms on Argentine film schools.[34]