Welcome to the World returns to Brooklyn, its shooting location, for at the 9th Annual Williamsburg Independent Film Festival, a festival in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The film screens November 16, 2018, at 6:45pm, at the historic Wythe Hotel Cinema in the shorts session It Runs in the Family. Albert, who co-directed and acted in the film, will be in attendance.

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”.

Founded in 2010, the mission of the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival is to nurture and celebrate new and independent film makers in the mecca of hipster and progressive culture. Over the years, some of our participants have included Neil LaBute, Linda Hamilton, Jane Lynch, Carol Leifer, Michael Urie, Frank Whaley, Billie Joe Armstrong, Debra Messing, Julia Ormand, Fran Kranz, Cheyenne Jackson, Illeana Douglas, Skeet Ulrich, Cathy Moriarty, Keir Gilchrist, Chloe Dahl, Gail Lerner, Rene Balcer, Josh Hamilton, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Rob McClure, Aaron Lazar, Sean Young, Jordan Roth and Daryl Roth.