Academy Award-winning animation producer/distributor GKIDS, announced today it will bring The Colors Within to theaters nationwide on January 24. Prior to the nationwide expansion, the film will hold an Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles starting December 13 at the Laemmle Royal.
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’?
The Colors Within is directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Naoko Yamada, who previously directed the critically acclaimed animated features A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird. Prior, 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 popular K-On! series and its sequel. In 2021, Yamada directed the series The Heike Story, her first work at studio Science SARU, which also debuted to wide acclaim.
The film is produced by studio Science SARU (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Inu-Oh, The Heike Story). Producer Genki Kawamura’s Story inc. (Your Name., Weathering With You, Suzume), carried out film planning and producing. 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.
The Colors Within held its sold-out world premiere as an official selection at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and went on to win the Best Animation Film Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival. The film will screen 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 18. The Colors Within was domestically released in Japan on August 30.
