Xavier Tera's 'The Colour of the Sun' Premieres at Venice Film Festival

Canadian director Xavier Tera's debut feature, The Colour of the Sun, premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it became one of the festival's biggest breakouts. Set on a small island in southwestern Japan, the film is a coming-of-age drama that explores divides between fantasy and reality, two contrasting cultures, and different masculinities. The story follows Kamei, a colour-blind high-schooler who has lost his father, as his world is upended by the arrival of Colin, a scrappy American airbase kid. The US military presence on the island, one of the largest in the world, provides a fraught backdrop. Tera enlisted a local producer two years before filming to scout natural talent and incorporate local dialect. The cast includes first-timer Naoto Shimajiri as Kamei, West Mulholland as Colin, and Yuma Taira as Sayaka. Producers Jeremy O Harris and Janie Chartier discussed the film's themes at Venice. Harris, who grew up on an American airbase, noted the fluidity of youth sexuality and the impact of homosociality on military bases. The film incorporates magic realism through Sayaka, inspired by the Okinawan folkloric Kijimuna. Tera, a Canadian citizen living in Japan for a decade, drew on geopolitical tensions, while Harris referenced Daniel Immerwahr's book How to Hide an Empire. The film's colonial themes resonate with current global situations.