Welcome to the World will screen in Albert’s home province of Ontario, Canada, at the Queer North Film Festival in Sudbury, Ontario. The film screens on Friday, June 15, at 5:15pm, at the McEwen School of Architecture as part of the Best Of Queer Shorts 1 programme. For tickets and more information, visit here.

One member of the festival selection committee writes, “I had the privileged of reviewing your video as one of the submissions… I wanted to tell you that I personally found it to be quite moving. As a survivor of suicide myself I identified strongly with the main character. I want to personally commend you for being extremely courageous in how raw you made the film. I hope that you can accept my sincerest congratulations on a job extremely well done. Bravo!”

Welcome to the World is a daring film about a troubled man who records a video message for his pregnant sister. Drawing its power and immediacy from its first-person, confessional style, the film presents, in one continuous shot, the journey of one man’s awakening from isolation back to humanity. The film stars Albert and is directed by Albert and Anthony Grasso.

Richard Propes (The Independent Critic) gives it four stars and writes, “RIVETING… CHAN’S PERFORMANCE IS DEEPLY MOVING… LINGERS IN YOUR BRAIN LONG AFTER THE CLOSING CREDITS”. Kirk Fernwood (One Film Fan) praises the film as “INTELLIGENT, INVENTIVE, AND INSPIRED… CHAN DOES A FANTASTIC JOB… DRAWING YOU IN WITH EVERY WORD… THE FINALE IS A STROKE OF CREATIVE BRILLIANCE AND ARTISTRY”. Max White (OC Movie Reviews) raves, “CHAN GIVES A GRIPPING, HEARTFELT AND SINCERE PERFORMANCE WHICH PLUNGES YOU INTO THE MURKY WATERS OF MODERN HUMANITY AND MASCULINITY… SQUEEZES SO MUCH RAW EMOTION INTO A SINGLE SHOT”. And Rachel Pullen (UK Film Review) writes, “LEADING MAN ALBERT M. CHAN… PLAYS AN EMOTIONALLY RAW MAN WITH A GRACE AND EASE THAT IS OFTEN ONLY SEEN WITHIN SOME OF THE MOST HIGH END ACTORS… PACKS A HUGE PUNCH… TO CREATE SUCH AN IMPACT ON A VIEWER IN ONLY SEVEN MINUTES WITH JUST ONE MAN, A SCRIPT AND A CAMERA CERTAINLY SPEAKS VOLUMES OF THE SKILLS THAT CHAN HAS AS A DIRECTOR, WRITER AND PERFORMER”.

Queer North Film Festival is the only queer film festival in northern Ontario and also supports the development of Northern Ontario’s aspiring and emerging LGBT filmmakers through a youth digital storytelling workshop and an industry programme. The festival is produced by Sudbury Indie Cinema, a not-for-profit co-op incorporated in 2014 that brings world-class independent cinema to northern Ontario on a year-round basis.