Co-directed and written by Albert, Welcome to the World heads to Missouri to screen at QFest St. Louis on April 5, 2018, at 9pm, at the .ZACK Theatre in the Grand Center Arts District. The film will be screened in the short film block Queer Shorts 2: Adam. Albert’s award-winning film The Commitiment played at QFest in 2013.

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”.

Now in its 10th year, QFest, Saint Louis’ LGBTQ Film Festival, creates a convergence of art and the LGBTQ community by bringing the very best in contemporary queer cinema to the St. Louis region. The primary mission of the festival is to use the art of contemporary gay cinema to spotlight the lives of LGBTQ people and celebrate queer culture. QFest is produced by Cinema St. Louis, which also produces the Academy-Award qualifying St. Louis International Film Festival.