After the Cévennes, Queyras and Ouessant, it is in the Pyrenees that backpacks landed in the show Our unknown landss broadcast on France 2, Tuesday April 6, 2021, at 9:05 p.m. Ahmed Sylla is no exception to the rule. The actor and comedian had the opportunity to experience strong emotions and thrills. Under the benevolent eye of Raphaël de Casabianca. For this occasion, the 40-year-old globetrotter, former host ofClose call, gave an interview to Current wife in which he gives us some anecdotes about this shoot.
Femme Actuelle: How was the filming of Our unknown lands with Ahmed Sylla despite the sanitary conditions?
Raphaël de Casabianca: We had the chance to shoot, in September 2020, between the two confinements. We were extremely happy to be able to be in nature. It’s been a long time since we left on the roads. It has increased tenfold this desire for nature and meetings too. We have all been tested before, during, and after, to be safe and comply with health regulations.
Do you intervene in the choice of your guests?
Ground floor: We discuss it a lot with the teams, also with Frédéric Lopez, who is still a producer, with whom I work hand in hand. There is the choice of the guest and that of the speakers. Lisa Delahais, our editor-in-chief, goes out into the field for several weeks to meet the people we will meet afterwards. I am not going in spotting because I need to have also, like my guest, the effect of the discovery. I don’t want to know everything.
Did you meet Ahmed Sylla before you started filming?
Ground floor: We had a drink together once in Paris. It’s funny because I thought I would invite her on Meeting in unknown land, that is to say much further. But he preferred to go to France because he is, I think, very emotional. Maybe he was worried about being very far away. He’s someone I admire, who makes me laugh, who is full of life. I immediately felt it was going to be great. And then it was confirmed on the first day, in two seconds, there, with the donkeys. I felt it was going to be great. He created a real beautiful friendship with Ahmed. We see each other again, we are still in touch. It’s a great meeting.
“To be interested in others is rather to know how to listen”
At the start of the show, you confiscate his cell phone for a week. Are you a laptop junkie or can you put up with being totally disconnected?
Ground floor: I have a somewhat ambivalent relationship, like a lot of people. I don’t mind having my cell phone taken away. When I leave on Meeting in unknown land, I don’t have it for three weeks. After, with my job, I am present on social networks. I am setting up an online media, Petaouchnok, so inevitably I am more connected. Now, I admit that the flaw is that we are all a bit addicted. It has become a bit like a blanket where there is everything. So I have rules where I don’t use my laptop, like in my bedroom. For the show, the fact of not having it allows you to be in a listening time. And that changes everything. That’s what I appreciate, we think that being interested in others is asking lots of questions, I think it’s more like knowing how to listen.
How did you feel when he expressed his wish not to go paragliding when you met?
Ground floor: It’s tricky because he tells me he’s scared and dizzy and doesn’t want to go paragliding or that sort of thing. Me, obviously, I have a smile saying to myself “oh there, that’s what we have planned this week”. But, “we’ll talk about it laterI thought to myself. And finally he thanked me. He was super happy he did. I think he did it in the best conditions with people who were very careful. I was there too. Her legs were moving all the way. He couldn’t hold on. It was really very impressive to see. He outdid himself.
“It’s not Koh Lanta, we are not here to do the sensation sequence! “
At the same time, if he hadn’t wanted to do it, what would you have decided?
Ground floor: If he had really said no, it is impossible, I would obviously have respected his will. It’s not Koh Lanta, what! We are not here to do the sensation sequence. We are here to give him a great gift. He was able to fly over La Soule and the Pyrenees mountains.
Did he tell you at the end of the day if he was going to do it again?
Ground floor: I don’t know, but he said I was going to get yelled at by his mother. He told me : “My mom is going to hate you! Throwing his son up in the air like that, bluntly, is not great.“
When she goes to see the show, she might thank you …
Ground floor: Exactly!
Does being a pure city dweller, like Ahmed Sylla, make him a good candidate for this show?
Ground floor: Of course, there is a lag. You never know if they are very urban or if they have already done a lot of hikes. There is an element of the unknown there too. Obviously when there is a lag, it’s funny. It creates situations. Afterwards, it is not a box to fill in to make the emission. We first choose the place very early on. Meeting in unknown land it’s over three weeks, so it takes a lot of time. Our unknown lands happens over a whole week. We do not make the destination according to the guest’s agenda. It is rather, once the place is chosen, to see who is available at that time. We have desires, there is a list, we keep our fingers crossed to make it work.
Ahmed Sylla did not want to do Meeting in unknown land
Finally, enter Meeting in unknown land and Our unknown lands, we realize that there is not that much difference. The human encounter is also beautiful …
Ground floor: This is the heart of this experience and this journey. Obviously one can be disoriented, surprised, moved and live a profound experience two hours from home as well as thousands of kilometers away. My grandmother always told me: “Raphaël when you are young, you want to see far, it’s normal, you want to eat the world. You want to learn everything. Then you realize that by looking far away, you are not paying attention to what is right in front of you. And you will see, over time, that you have treasures at your fingertips“. She’s right. In the journey, that’s how I feel too, having had the chance to travel a lot, I realize that I am more attentive to certain details because I had the opportunity to see a lot of things. I am attentive to what is around me. And to this humanity that we can find on the other side of the world, as we can find it when leaving home.
Is there a hint of disappointment from your guest when you tell them they are going to participate in Our unknown lands and not to Meeting in unknown land who has become legendary?
Ground floor: No, since Ahmed Sylla did not want to do Appointment. And by the way, I can’t tell you the names, but in fact, in the next shows, we have proposed to someone, a very important personality, to do Meeting in unknown land, and she preferred France. That is what is interesting.
Why you think ?
Ground floor: The question is legitimate because we offer an experience on the other side of the world, in an extremely distant land, and we offer a less fantastic experience, on paper. But in fact, we realize that the two proposals come together on common values. There is a balance that will be achieved among the guests. Very big sizes will also go to France. Moreover, I want Our unknown lands and Meeting in unknown land affect a new generation. I hope that a younger audience, who follows Ahmed Sylla on the networks and knows his sketches, will also watch the program with the family. It will generate debate. They will realize that there are people who make committed life choices, who are in tune with the world and who fight for it.
In January 2021, you had the opportunity to go with Vianney to shoot Meeting in unknown land. Do you know if France 2 already has a broadcast date?
Ground floor: The broadcast date has not yet been confirmed. Vianney is an extraordinary person who I really like. I am convinced, as with Ahmed Sylla, that it will also affect other people.
When will a Our unknown lands or Meeting in unknown land with Frédéric Lopez as a guest?
Ground floor: It’s funny, I am often asked the question. I do not know. You will have to ask him. I am on it. Afterwards, I’m not sure he really wants to, but why not. We never know. I would find it very funny and the circle would come full circle. It would be nice.
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