Welcome to the World will premiere in Texas at the 2018 Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival on Monday, June 4, at 6:30pm at the Performing Arts Center at Houston Community College–Spring Branch. The film screens in the session Strength Through Intimacy. Admission is free. For tickets and more information, visit here.

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”.

Started in 2004 by OCA-Greater Houston, the Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival, or HAAPIFEST, was created to highlight and celebrate the diversity of AAPI culture, food, and family, to support AAPI artists and filmmakers, and to share the untold AAPI experience for the Greater Houston metropolitan area through “edutainment”. Today, HAAPIFEST is an immersive, multi-day celebration of film, music, and art, showcased by a dedicated committee of volunteers. The mission of HAAPIFEST is to promote and develop Asian and Asian American innovators in the film and entertainment industry, promote Houston as a cultural destination for the arts, and educate the AAPI and wider communities through the visual storytelling of Asians and Asian Americans.