Welcome to the World will screen as part of the Health in Focus Film Festival, a program of Population Health Exchange at Boston University School of Public Health. Co-director, writer, and actor Albert M. Chan will participate in a live virtual Q & A.

Welcome to the World screens on Friday, December 2, 2022, at 2pm, as part of the short film block Inequities, which focuses on marginalized populations, e.g. economic, gender, race, LGBTQIA+, transgender, immigrants, refugees. The screening takes place in the Auditorium (Room 101) of the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences and Engineering (610 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02215).

The screening is free for current Boston University students, faculty, and staff. The Health in Focus Film Festival is pleased to participate in the Card to Culture program, a collaboration between Mass Cultural Council and the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Massachusetts Health Connector, and the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Nutrition Program by extending a 75% discount to EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders. Tickets, regularly $12, can be obtained here.

The Health in Focus Film Festival, which takes place December 1-3, 2022, strives to improve the health of populations by pairing compelling visual stories with thoughtful discussion. Programming consists of two invited feature-length films, a panel discussion, and three blocks of short films.

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.”