Contemporary France, in the terms of one hour of television journalism, provides a perplexing embarrassment of riches. What are the key questions? The enigma of General de Gaulle? Algeria? The ambiguous nature of French democracy? The importance of France in Europe and In the Western Alliance? France as a nuclear power? As a cultural leader? As a modern industrial nation?
All of these topical and important facets of the French scene are the stuff of television documentary, worthy of examination for the international audience for whom Associated-Rediffusion’s major feature programmes are now produced. But each of them illumines no more than one aspect of this complex and paradoxical country, her current problems and achievements. Between the France of history, continually glorified by her poets and philosophers, and the France of today’s headlines, is the France that survives, adapts and develops.