Albert’s film Welcome to the World will screen on Sunday, July 28, 2024, from 12:30-3:30pm, at Pelican House in Bethnal Green, London, as part of Queer Asia‘s program Rebooting the Body Queer. This program of films will be followed by a creative workshop facilitated by poet and writer Jhani Randhawa.

Welcome to the World previously screened at ONCA Gallery in Brighton, UK, as part of Queer Asia Film Festival 2022, where the theme was Survival.

As an annual celebration of films from across Asia, including Asian diasporas, Queer Asia Film Festival has showcased a wide diversity of films from across Asia, including Azerbaijan, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Myanmar, The Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Viet Nam in Central London venues including The British Museum, SOAS, King’s College London, and University College London. Queer Asia Film Festival has also collaborated with different organisations, including The British Museum, Club Kali, CINEMQ, SOAS, University of London, University of Warwick, and King’s College London.

Queer Asia is a collective of early career researchers, doctoral researchers, and activists, striving to create a global platform to challenge dominant ideas, forms, and representations of gender and sexuality, while sharing, showcasing, promoting, and inspiring a plethora of voices from Asia and its vast diasporas.

During its existence, Queer Asia has also attracted extensive media coverage including BBC Impact and BBC World News, Rife Magazine, Gay Star News, CUNTemporary, The Guardian, and Attitude Magazine.

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 M. Chan and is directed by Albert M. Chan 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.”