There are good years, and then there are Lucy Alibar's 2012-13.

In the past 13 months, Alibar has seen her life catapulted from the anonymity of little-known New Orleans playwright to the warm embrace of First Lady Michelle Obama. The trip began at last year's Sundance Film Festival, where the pic that she co-wrote, Beasts of the Southern Wild, was the festival's breakout hit, and will end at next Sunday's Oscars, where it will compete as the year's Little Indie That Could.

Alibar, along with director Benh Zeitlin and the film's stars, Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry, visited the White House last week, where Obama raved about the film as part of a presentation on education and self-empowerment. Days later, at the WGA Awards in New York, Alibar was still glowing from the experience when she spoke with The Hollywood Reporter.


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Keywords:Lucy Alibar,Orleans playwright,First Lady, Michelle Obama, Sundance Film Festival,Sunday's Oscars, Benh Zeitlin , film's stars, Quvenzhane Wallis ,Dwight Henry, Obama,Hollywood film news, Hollywood Reporter.