CBC films Pierre Kabasele at the Baha'i Holy Day event performing a song in his native tongue.

Montreal, Quebec, 5 May 2008 (CBNS) – A crew of documentary film makers from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Television International came to the Montreal Baha'i community’s 29 April Holy Day celebration of the Ninth day of Ridvan, held at the downtown Baha'i Centre. Over 150 people of many ethnic and religious backgrounds were gathered for this celebration. A CBC documentary series focused on “immigration and integration” of newcomers to Canada will feature the Baha’i community because of the successful efforts to make new immigrants feel welcome to the community.

“We thought of Pierre Mulumba Kabasele immediately,” said Golgasht Mossafai, director of the Office of Media for the Montreal Baha’i Community. Pierre is a new immigrant from Congo with a very interesting life story. He is also a musician who sings, plays guitar, and composes his own songs. He and his sister both were part of the famous Congo Choir that performed in various cities in Congo and at the Opening of the Bahá’í Terraces on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel in 2001.

For the CBC series, Pierre is paired with another immigrant who has lived in Montreal area for a longer period so they can share their experiences of immigration and integration with the audience. Pierre’s counterpart is also a well-known musician from Quebec, Gabi Macaluso, who has been working with International Development Agencies. She has lived in many parts of the world including Latin America and worked as a volunteer with handicapped immigrants. She has recently released an album on CD called: “Piccolo Mondo, Tanti Frutti”.

Although the CBC film crew wanted to record Pierre’s performance during the Holy Day event and then leave, they stayed throughout the whole evening, almost to the last minutes of the evening. They enjoyed the hospitality and the warmth of the crowd and asked many questions. The filming will continue this week and the finished product will be available for public viewing on www.rcinet.ca as well as on various TV channels throughout the Canada and overseas.