If we knew Raphaël Mezrahi for his careers as a comedian, actor and French director but also for his offbeat interviews, we didn’t know he was a collector. The man who began his career by posing as a clumsy journalist by destabilizing his guests with improbable questions launched into the restoration of 500 damaged magnetic tapes from private producers where you can find the first shows of Dany Boon, Élie Kakou, Sylvie Joly… “The scent of alcohol, paper and dust, sometimes more than a century old, tickles the nose. A narrow winding path allows you to move forward among the piles of reels, magnetic tapes, video cassettes, video recorders, screens, scanners and enlargers of all kinds. A scalpel drags on a keyboard. Behind the doors of this hangar in the Chevreuse valley lies a paradise for mystics of sound and image.detail our colleagues from Figaro. To the latter, Raphaël Mezrahi teasingly launched: “Jean Dujardin, his dream was to play Zorro, for me it’s Colombo”.
And to return to his current feats of arms: “I have already saved around ten including those of Dany Boon, Elie Kakou, Michel Boujenah and an issue of ‘Tribunal des flagrant délires’, the cult France Inter show with Pierre Desproges and Luis Rego. You can see them on myCanal in the ‘Les Trésors de Raphaël Mezrahi’ tab. The comedian wanted to recall the urgency of his approach because “These bands are dying.” Indeed, he explained: “We have to act quickly. Within fifteen years, their content will disappear forever. It takes three months of restoration and 5000 at 20,000 euros before finding out what’s on it. Regardless of tape format and age, from tape heads to enlargers, I have all the logistics. I have a crazy approach, I am capable of doing 1000 terminals to collect equipment in an industrial zone.” Among the nuggets that can be found in his archives? “I have the not at all #MeToo archive of Serge Gainsbourg that everyone is looking for. At Carbone’s microphone 14, he asks for two girls to make love live”, he revealed bluntly.
Raphaël Mezrahi, a man full of resources!
He also revealed how he managed to get it and let’s say that he didn’t strain himself too much. “At the beginning of the 1970s, he installed an amplifier antenna on the roof of the family home in Troyes to receive the Reims network”tell Le Figaro. Then the main interested party provides some details: “I was the only one in the region to watch Casimir and Children’s Island in color and to grab FIP in frequency modulation. I have all the Radio France cassettes from the time and thirty years of voicemails on my answering machine. Those who want to listen to their deceased loved ones again come to see me. (…) All this is my life.” If he does this work in his “corner, without any public assistance. The Comedy channel ! was the first to [l’]help with the restoration.
“Fortunately, François Bayrou maintained Rachida Dati as Minister of Culture. She knows everything I do by heart. She is as convinced as I am of the importance of saving this heritage. These bands represent an entire era. At the start of the school year, she will introduce me to the right people, if I can help in my smallest way, I’m happy to do so.” he said gratefully. Dany Boon, the son of Alex Métayer, the daughter of Sylvie Joly as well as the sister of Élie Kakou thanked him for his dedication. “Raphaël Mezrahi does an extraordinary job”, said Brigitte Kakou. And Raphaël Mezrahi concludes: “I don’t like artists, I’m in love with them. My real name is public service. I live in the present, 40 years later.”
