Albert’s film Welcome to the World has been selected to compete in the 2018 OUT HERE NOW SHORT FILM COMPETITION on the closing night of the 19th Annual OUT HERE NOW: Kansas City LGBT Film Festival. This popular annual closing night event takes place on Thursday, June 28, 2018, at 5:45pm, at Tivoli Cinemas and features eleven short films, each under 10 minutes, that were selected to be this year’s finalists by the jury. The audience in attendance that evening will watch and then rank each of the finalists. The filmmaker whose film earns the highest overall ranking will be awarded a cash prize.

Albert’s prior film The Commitment screened at OUT HERE NOW: Kansas City LGBT Film Festival back 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 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”.

OUT HERE NOW: Kansas City LGBT Film Festival is presented by the Tivoli Cinemas and Arts Center and the Westport Regional Business League with support from the Kansas City Neighborhood Tourism & Development Fund.