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SEA-Nordic Film Festival: Tom of Finland (2017)

Sept 19, 2026

4:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Members: $12
General Admission: $14

2655 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107

206.789.5707

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Synopsis

Known to the world as Tom of Finland, artist Touko Laaksonen shaped the fantasies of a generation of gay men with his proudly erotic and taboo-shattering drawings of testosterone filled, muscle-bound men. But who was the man behind the leather?

Dome Karukoski’s stirring biopic follows his life from the trenches of WWII and repressive Finnish society of the 1950s through his struggle to get his work published in California, where he and his art were finally embraced amid the sexual revolution of the 1970s. Tom’s story is one of love, courage and perseverance, mirroring the gay liberation movement for which his leather-clad studs served as a defiant emblem.

Film Details

Director: Dome Karukoski
Year: 2017
Runtime: 1h 56m
Language: English, Finnish
Genre: Biography, Drama

Before the film, join Dr. Olivia Gunn, an Associate Professor at the University of Washington, and graduate student Ethan Bjelland Hagberg for a discussion about artist Touko Valio Laaksonen and Tom of Finland (2017).

Reviews

"Terrific. A fascinating and fitting tribute to a true subversive gay hero."

—Dennis Dermody, Paper Magazine

"Tom of Finland entertainingly recounts an intriguing and vital chapter of 20th-century gay history with style and deference."

—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

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Speakers

Dr. Olivia Noble Gunn

Olivia Noble Gunn, PhD, is an associate professor and the Sverre Arestad Endowed Chair in Norwegian Studies in the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Bio

Dr. Olivia Noble Gunn

Olivia Noble Gunn, PhD, is an associate professor and the Sverre Arestad Endowed Chair in Norwegian Studies in the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle.

She is the author of Empty Nurseries, Queer Occupants: Reproduction and the Future in Ibsen's Late Plays (2020) and the translator of Camara Lundestad Joof's I Talk about It All the Time.
Ethan Bjelland-Hagberg

Ethan is a graduate student and educator in the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington, having recently moved to Seattle from Minneapolis, MN.
Bio

Ethan Bjelland-Hagberg

Ethan is a graduate student and educator in the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington, having recently moved to Seattle from Minneapolis, MN.

Ethan speaks Norwegian and Swedish and has taught all ages and abilities, from preschoolers to students in their 90s. Before working with SLI, Ethan served as the Communications Director for Norway House in Minneapolis and was a professional actor and stage director. They have taught with the Concordia Language Villages, the American Swedish Institute, the Mindekirken Norwegian Language and Culture Program, and as a private instructor.

Ethan lives in Ballard with their husband, Jade, and their two dogs, Ollie and Dieter. Ethan's interests include the performing arts, gender and performance studies, Henrik Ibsen, community building, the Eurovision Song Contest, cooking and wine tasting, fountain pens, and the Muppets.