From Acclaimed Director Naoko Yamada (A Silent Voice), Science SARU (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) and Producer Genki Kawamura (Your Name.)
Opens in Theaters Nationwide January 24
With Los Angeles Qualifying Run Starting December 13
An Official Selection at Annecy International Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, and BFI London
Film to Hold U.S. Premiere as Opening Night Feature in Los Angeles’
Animation is Film Festival with Director Naoko Yamada in Attendance
GKIDS, the Academy Award®-winning producer and distributor of acclaimed and artist-driven animation, announced today it will bring THE COLORS WITHIN to theaters nationwide on January 24th. Prior to the nationwide expansion, the film will hold an Academy-qualifying run in Los Angeles starting December 13th at the Laemmle Royal.
THE COLORS WITHIN held its sold-out world premiere as an official selection at the Annecy International Film Festival, and went on to win the Best Animation Film Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival. The film will additionally play at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, and hold its North American premiere as the opening night feature of this year’s Animation is Film Festival in Los Angeles on October 18th. THE COLORS WITHIN was domestically released in Japan on August 30th.
THE COLORS WITHIN is directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Naoko Yamada (A Silent Voice, Liz and the Blue Bird, The Heike Story), with production from studio Science SARU (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Inu-Oh, The Heike Story). Producer Genki Kawamura’s Story inc. (Your Name., Weathering With You, Suzume), is additionally attached to the film for planning and producing. Screenwriter Reiko Yoshida (Ride Your Wave, Violet Evergarden) penned the script, and longtime Science SARU composer Kensuke Ushio (DEVILMAN crybaby, Chainsaw Man, A Silent Voice) composed the score. Additionally, frequent Science SARU collaborator Takashi Kojima, who most recently worked with director Yamada on the series The Heike Story, joined the production as character designer and animation director.
Director Yamada worked as a key animator on many seminal television series, such as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, and Clannad. She went on to direct the beloved show K-On! and its sequel, as well as the critically acclaimed animated features A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird. In 2021, Yamada directed the series The Heike Story, her first work at studio Science SARU, which also debuted to wide acclaim.
SYNOPSIS:
Totsuko is a high school student with the ability to see the ‘colors’ of others. Colors of bliss, excitement, and serenity, plus a color she treasures as her favorite. Kimi, a classmate at her school, gives off the most beautiful color of all. Although she doesn’t play an instrument, Totsuko forms a band with Kimi and Rui, a quiet music enthusiast they meet at a used bookstore in a far corner of town. As they practice at an old church on a remote island, music brings them together, forming friendships and stirring affections. Will they discover their true ‘colors’?