They have the taste of others and their professional career testifies to this. Mireille Dumas (“Down with the Masks”, “Life in the Right Place”, “Private Life Public Life”) Frédéric Lopez (“Rendez-vous en terre stranger”, “A Thousand and One Lives”, “A Sunday in the Country” »…), Faustine Bollaert (“It begins today”) or Olivier Delacroix (“In the eyes of Olivier”): all of them collected the words of anonymous people or celebrities with a quality of listening that made the difference.
“You can’t decide to become a confidential interviewer and say it’s going to work. In this profession, there are many things that can be learned, but that cannot be learned, summarizes Olivier Delacroix, who went to meet communities (bodybuilders, tattooed people, tuning fans, etc.) in “ New views” on France 4 before having its own magazine on France 2. It’s a bit of a vocation, in fact.”
Understanding others beyond words
Sometimes, to understand its origins, we have to go back to childhood. “I grew up in a small village, in a closed world,” remembers Mireille Dumas. I lost my father young, my mother was my teacher and I lived in the village school. From then on, I had this desire to go and see others, in all their difference, their diversity, to go towards others to see how we find our place in society, how we go through tragedies, how we bounce back or not “. Another episode from his young years is also seminal. “When I was a student, I took part in theater experiences with Peter Brook. With actors from this director, we went to work in psychiatric hospitals. Even before becoming a journalist, it led me to try to understand others beyond words. It helped me in this openness to others.” Subsequently, Mireille Dumas became a written press journalist, then a documentary director. “I started from a singular story and looked for what was universal. I did it for social themes like transidentity, or crime in prisons,” underlines the one whose documentary “Travestir” will be rebroadcast in “Rembob’ina” on LCP on October 8.
While she launched “Bas les masques” in the early 1990s, another testimonial program arrived in prime time on France 2 in 1994: “That is discussed”. Among the regular viewers of this new event: Faustine Bollaert. “It was really while watching this program that I became passionate about the nuances of human emotions and family relationships,” she remembers. I met Jean-Luc Delarue during my end-of-journalism thesis. I told him: “one day, I will present a testimonial program on public service”. I wasn’t 20, he must have been laughing! But he had been very kind and very caring. He liked to pass it on to young people.” Without ever losing sight of her goal, the host eventually landed the presentation of “It starts today” in 2017. “Even when life took me to entertainment shows, I knew it was my holy grail , that this was where I was going to flourish. It’s something that was in my DNA to be connected to others. It runs through my veins. The essence of the interview, of the taste of others, I think we either have it or we don’t.”
“Silences speak as much as words”
In their respective broadcasts, everyone has the art and way of collecting words. “There is in our profession the reflex of thinking that we must intervene all the time,” notes Olivier Delacroix. But when someone has something that is not easy to tell you, what is essential is to listen to them. And above all to let him express what he has to say, let his emotions pass, let them settle in.” Mireille Dumas adds: “When I am with someone, time stops. I am very attentive to gestures, to silence, because silences say as much as words. In my head, there is a common thread but I let myself be carried away by words that will surprise me, and I will rush into it. Unlike those who are passionate about live broadcasts, I don’t believe that the first words are necessarily the most sincere. That’s why I tour for a long time. Because with those who are experienced in this exercise, like politicians or artists, it takes time for things other than ready-made answers to come out.”
Obviously, the question of trust is essential but, due to their experience in the profession, everyone benefits from a certain capital in this area. “When the first docs or shows were broadcast, we saw that I was not looking for sensationalism, even if certain themes were avant-garde or broke taboos. I was more into this liberation of words, without looking for the little sentences that are making the buzz today. This creates trust with the public in general, and with personalities because there are no betrayals. This confidence is there because I have not distorted anything.” Same story for Faustine Bollaert. “Since I’ve been presenting “It Starts Today” for seven years, people know that it’s never immodest or voyeuristic. They know that it will be with kindness, she believes. Then I take the time to talk to them before we go on air. I will explain to them how the subject affects me. I explain to them what state of mind I am in so that we are in a moment of truth in both directions.”
The weight of words
Once on the air, these confidences can sometimes be destabilizing. How do we manage, psychologically speaking, the weight of the words collected? Frédéric Lopez spoke about this subject at the time of “A Thousand and One Lives” on France 2. He revealed to TV Grandes Chaînes that he goes to see a psychologist once a week to protect himself from these confidences. He also added “doing sports, enjoying the silence or seeing your friends to recharge your batteries”. Faustine Bollaert also consults. “A fortnight ago, we concentrated on filming a series of very heavy shows and I went down on one knee, I felt that it wasn’t going well, that it was too hard… In In this case, I go see my psychologist and I clear everything out.” Olivier Delacroix, who also hosts the free broadcast of Europe 1, was surprised by the weight of the testimonies collected. “To think that you don’t bring anything home is false. It is necessary to talk to other people about all this. I wasn’t really aware of it before. I wasn’t paying attention to myself. I felt psychological fatigue from the beginning of June which I thought was linked to a significant amount of work but it wasn’t just that. When I started asking myself the right questions, I understood that I was full of lots of things that I needed to let go of.”
And when we are confident on TV, are we also confident in everyday life? “Yes because others interest me, whether there is a camera or not. I feel like I’m the same in life, with my friends, as I am in my shows. It’s part of who I am, I like to listen,” insists Faustine Bollaert. Olivier Delacroix adds: “Being a confidant is a life path. I believe that until our last breath, we learn from each other”