Bright Lights: Special advanced screening of Tom of Finland

Sponsored by Wicked Queer, NELA and The Scandinavian Center Directed by Dome Karukoski, Drama, 115 minutes, Finland, 2017 Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual and men around him even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specializing in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution. Discussion led by faculty member and The New York Times Magazine Writer Benoit Denizet-Lewis to follow. All Bright Lights screenings are free and open to the public.