After screening on six continents, Welcome to the World returns home to New York City for the 6th Annual The Americas Film Festival of New York, running June 13-22, 2019. Welcome to the World is one of nine fiction short films in competition and will be presented in a block of shorts films alongside ones from Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Panama, and Guatemala, on Saturday, June 15, 2019, at 3pm, at the Center for Worker Education (CWE), 7th Floor Auditorium, at The City College of New York. The screening is free.

Welcome to the World previously screening in New York at NewFilmmakers New York, Asian American International Film Festival, The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, My True Colors Festival, Crown Heights Film Festival, Williamsburg Independent Film Festival, and Long Island International Film Expo.

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.”

The Americas Film Festival of New York represents the rich diversity of the cultures, languages and stories of North America, Central America, and South America along with their associated islands. The festival is a project of the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education (CWE) of The City College of New York (The City University of New York – CUNY), in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. The Americas Film Festival of New York aims to create a new culture of cinematography appreciation by providing a dynamic space for the public and artists to meet, reflect on multiculturalism and diversity in our society, while promoting the work of new and emerging filmmakers.