SECRETARY RICE'S PARTICIPATION IN A DOCUMENTARY FOR FRENCH

UNCLAS PARIS 003921 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO THE FOREIGN PRESS CENTER DEPARTMENT FOR R/ K. HUGHES, EUR/ D. FRIED ¶E. O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO PREL FR SUBJECT: SECRETARY RICE'S PARTICIPATION IN A DOCUMENTARY FOR FRENCH TELEVISION ¶1. Summary: Embassy Paris was approached by one of our best press contacts to seek Secretary Rice's participation in an hour-long biographical documentary series. The Embassy strongly endorses this request, and requests favorable consideration. We are ready to provide additional information should it be necessary. End Summary. ¶2. France-3 television correspondent Christian Malar and collaborator Bernard Vaillot recently launched a new hour-long series called "A Visage Decouvert." Each program is essentially an authorized biography of a contemporary world leader, tracing personal history, career path, influences and challenges. Beginning this fall, the programs will run monthly on France TV-5 and LCP, the C-Span equivalent. DVDs of the program will also be available to universities and schools throughout France and in other Francophone countries. ¶3. This new series got off to a promising start with the first program spotlighting King Abdullah II of Jordan. It aired to excellent reviews at a packed premiere screening where the Jordanian Ambassador spoke, and it later ran on both TV channels. President Hosni Mubarak's story will kick off the fall 2006 season in September. Malar and Vaillot would like to feature Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for a program to air after the Mubarak documentary. ¶4. They would like the Secretary to agree to participate in the project, by recommending people for them to interview in Birmingham, Denver, Palo Alto, and Washington, then herself sitting down for a 45-minute interview. With appropriate permission, they envision interviewing the Secretary's relatives, neighbors, former teachers, and colleagues. In Washington, they would like to interview former President George H. W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft, and perhaps some former Secretaries of State. ¶5. They would also like to shoot Secretary Rice playing with her chamber music group. Ideally, they would make a reconnaissance trip this summer and return in late August or early September for the final interviews. ¶6. Embassy Paris strongly supports this project. The White House chose Christian Malar to interview President Bush in June 2004, and he is one of our best contacts. Malar also interviewed former Secretary Powell four times, and he appears frequently as a guest SIPDIS commentator on CNN-International and the BBC. ¶7. This documentary presents an opportunity to show France and the Francophone world the best aspects of America through the biography of Secretary Rice, whose February 2005 appearances in Paris ignited the post-Iraq War thaw in French public opinion toward the U.S. With the DVDs available to high schools and universities, we can count on reaching the successor generation through this program. ¶8. Embassy Paris stands ready to provide additional supporting information, and if the Secretary agrees, to provide contact information and other assistance to get the documentary project launched. STAPLETON