Co-directed and written by Albert, Welcome to the World Welcome to the World will screen in Rhode Island tonight at the Southeast New England (SENE) Film, Music & Arts Festival in Providence, RI at Rhodywood Studio. The film screens on Friday, April 27, 2018, at 8:30pm as part of the LGBT Shorts session. Albert and actress Mary Niederkorn will be in attendance.

The filmmaking team’s previous efforts Descendants of the Past, Ancestors of the Future, The Commitment and Fate Scores screened at Southeast New England (SENE) Film, Music & Arts Festival back in 2015, 2013 and 2009 respectively. The festival awarded Descendants of the Past, Ancestors of the Future with Best Regional Film and The Commitment with both the Jury Award and Audience Award for Best LGBT Film.

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”.

As one of the longest-running film, music and arts festivals in the country, the Southeast New England Film, Music & Arts Festival has established itself as one of the premier festivals in New England dedicated to giving life to independent cinema, music and art. The festival was recently selected as one of MovieMaker Magazine‘s Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.