Albert’s collaboration with his son Andrew Chan-Possemato, The Butler and the Ball, will screen at the 2023 Whimsical Times Film Festival on Sunday, May 7, 2023, from 5:30-7:00 PM, at Jengo’s Playhouse in Wilmington, NC.

Whimsical Times Film Festival is a family-friendly, one-day festival for kids of all ages. Shorts in this showcase include comedy, drama and animation. All films were selected by the students participating in Movie Madness: Making a Film Festival class at DREAMS Center for Arts Education, facilitated by Cucalorus. Short films in this series are not rated but are appropriate for all audiences. Tickets start at just $5 and help make this program possible. Additional ticket levels are available to provide even more support for the Movie Madness class at DREAMS.

Established in 1997, DREAMS of Wilmington is a youth development organization that is dedicated to creating a culture of confidence for youth and teens, through equitable access to arts education, supported by the values of respect, family, and community. In 2007, DREAMS received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, given annually by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities to the nation’s top after-school and out-of-school arts and humanities programs. Today, DREAMS provides free-of-charge arts programming to more than 600 young people and their families each year, offering more than 40 classes per week at 6 different sites in the Wilmington, NC, area, including the newly renovated, 12,000-square-foot inner-city center on Wilmington’s North Side. This space features the 4,000-square-foot performance venue and multipurpose space, The Garage at DREAMS.

The Butler and the Ball is an urban fairy tale about a lonely boy who enters a contest to become the new butler of a grieving, reclusive singer. The film was directed by eight-year-old Andrew Chan-Possemato, who wrote and produced it with Albert. The film has screened in France, Wales, India, Iran, Romania, Estonia, The Czech Republic, England, South Korea, Australia, Serbia, Greece, Canada, and the United States. Awards include Best of Festival Award for Best International Young People’s Film at the Children’s International Film Festival of Wales, Best Young Director – Live Action at the Atlanta Children’s Film Festival, Best Kids-Made Film at the San Diego International Kids’ Film Festival, Best Junior Filmmaker at Sanctuary International Film Festival in Australia, Best Narrative Film, Under 12 at the International KidsNFilm Festival, First Prize in the Fictional Movie Made by Filmmakers up to 10 Years of Age category at A-FilmTeensFest in the Czech Republic, the Under 10 category at the Prague Youth Film Festival, Best Original Screenplay of a Short Film and Jury Special Mention—Child Actor at Children Short Film Festival in England and France, and Best Youth – 18 at Alder International Short Film Festival.