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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