Ballard's National Nordic Museum will screen a century of queer Nordic cinema over five days in September, with the SEA-Nordic Film Festival running Sept. 15–19 in Osberg Great Hall.

The festival's full lineup, announced Aug. 24, spans 1924 to 2024 and pairs short films with features, academic discussions and a collaborative art project. Tickets start at $12.

Opening night on Tuesday, Sept. 15, pairs the Finnish short "BLUSH — An Extraordinary Voyage" with "Show Me Love," Lukas Moodysson's 1998 Swedish film about two teenage girls in the small town of Åmål. Ingmar Bergman called the film "a young master's first masterpiece" upon its release, and it remains a touchstone of queer cinema.

Wednesday, Sept. 16, brings "Skádja," a 17-minute Saami-language short directed by Eili Bråstad Johannessen about two women confronting past trauma in a forest. Thursday, Sept. 17, features "Chavo," a Swedish- and Roma-language short by director Alecio Araci set at a Romani community grill. Both nights have feature films still to be announced.

Friday, Sept. 18, screens "And Then We Danced" (2019), a coming-of-age story about a competitive dancer in Tbilisi, in the country of Georgia.

Saturday, Sept. 19, packs four films into a full day running 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The marathon opens with "Michael" (1924), an early overtly gay-themed Danish-German romance that University of Washington Associate Professor Amanda Doxtater will introduce. Later, UW Associate Professor Olivia Gunn and graduate student Ethan Bjelland Hagberg lead a discussion ahead of "Tom of Finland" (2017), a biopic of Finnish artist Touko Valio Laaksonen. The day also includes "Girls Lost" (2015) and the Norwegian film "Dreams (Sex Love)" (2024), directed by Dag Johan Haugerud.

Last year's festival focused on Danish cinema. The 2026 edition shifts to LGBTQ+ stories, tracing queer representation across the Nordic region through films about love, gender exploration and cultural identity.

Tickets and details

Individual screenings cost $12 for museum members and $14 for general admission. Full festival passes run $90 (members) and $100 (general) and include gallery access. Saturday-only passes are $44 for members and $52 for general admission. Weeknight screenings begin at 6 p.m.

The full schedule and tickets are available at nordicmuseum.org.