American Faust is a hard-hitting documentary about Condoleezza Rice, an extraordinary but little-understood woman who rose out of segregated Alabama to become the most powerful woman in the world. Incisive and shocking, this is the first retrospective film on the Bush Administration. It overturns the popular misconception of Rice as a yes-woman to President Bush to reveal her as his most enduring confidante – and thus responsible for much of the Bush legacy.
Through a political, biographical documentary, we tell a Faustian story of a woman whose hubris tempted her into a pursuit of power that destroyed her core values, and hurtled America into a perilous new direction. The film follows her step-by step quest for power, starting at the age of ten, when, on a visit to the White House, she turned to her father and said, “Daddy, I'm barred out there because of the color of my skin, but one day I'll be in that house.” 40 years later, Secretary of State Rice said, ‘I want to leave office without anyone knowing where I stand on any of the issues.’
Dr. Rice leads her own defense, through a series of candid interviews. Supporters who defend her record include both Presidents Bush, Oprah Winfrey, Brent Scowcroft and Henry Kissinger. Critics include Lawrence Wilkerson (Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff), Manfred Nowak (UN Rapporteur on Torture), George Tenet (CIA Director), Alan Gilbert (her former history teacher), Richard Clarke (Counter-terrorism chief), Richard Ben-Veniste (9/11 Commissioner), Spike Lee, Eleanor Clift (Newsweek Editor), and Sean Penn.
“Prosecutor John Durham is investigating the wrong people,” says Sebastian Doggart, the film’s director. “The CIA agents who carried out these interrogations were acting under orders which came directly from the chair of the Group of Principals, Condoleezza Rice. Under the principle of command responsibility, she is accountable.”
Doggart is a film and television producer, director, camera-man, and writer who began his career as a journalist in Latin America, working first as Co-Editor of the Lima Times and then as Economics Editor for the Buenos Aires Herald. In 2000, Sebastian moved to the USA where he produced/directed major TV series including ‘Project Runway’ for Bravo (nominated for a 2005 Primetime Emmy), 'Wife Swap' for ABC, ’15 Films about Madonna’ for A&E, two series of ‘Damage Control’ for MTV, ‘Thirty Days’ for FX (hosted by Oscar-nominated Morgan Spurlock, and nominated for a Producers Guild of America award), ten episodes of ‘American Candidate’ for Showtime, and two short fictional films.