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Overdue for Independence: A Revolutionary Film Series

Jefferson in Paris (Rated PG-13)

Starring Nick Nolte, Greta Scacchi, Gwyneth Paltrow, Simon Callow, and Thandie Newton. Directed by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

Biopic chronicling the five years that Thomas Jefferson spent as U.S. ambassador to France prior to the French Revolution. Jefferson is sympathetic to the revolutionary forces in France, but he's become well-enough acquainted with the ruling aristocracy that he finds himself torn between the two sides of the issue.

In the mid-1780s, widower Thomas Jefferson replaces Benjamin Franklin as the U.S. representative to French regents Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. He tries to resist the beautiful Mrs. Cosway. Also in Paris is Jefferson's daughter Patsy; when another daughter dies back in Virginia, Jefferson sends for his youngest, who brings along her slave, Sally Hemings, then 15, whom he also finds irresistible. 

Originally released as a motion picture in 1995.

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