Lineup announced for SEA-Nordic Film Festival in Ballard

The lineup has been announced for the 2026 SEA-Nordic Film Festival, which will showcase LGBTQ+ stories from across the Nordic region at the National Nordic Museum Sept. 15–19.

The weeklong festival in Osberg Great Hall will explore the history of queer representation in Nordic cinema through films about love, gender and cultural identity. The program will also include short films, discussions with academics and artists, and a collaborative art project.

The festival will open Tuesday, Sept. 15, with the Finnish short film “BLUSH — An Extraordinary Voyage,” followed by “Show Me Love,” a 1998 film about two teenage girls in a small Swedish town.

Wednesday’s program includes “Skádja,” a short film from Sápmi about two women confronting past trauma, followed by a feature film that has not yet been announced. On Thursday, the Swedish short film “Chavo” will screen ahead of another feature film that is still to be announced.

Friday’s selection is “And Then We Danced,” a 2019 coming-of-age film about a competitive dancer in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The festival concludes Saturday, Sept. 19, with four films:

• “Michael,” a 1924 Danish-German period romance and an early overtly gay-themed film. Amanda Doxtater, an associate professor at the University of Washington, will introduce the screening.
• “Girls Lost,” a 2015 film about three girls who temporarily experience life as boys.
• “Tom of Finland,” a 2017 film about the life and work of artist Touko Valio Laaksonen. UW Associate Professor Olivia Gunn and graduate student Ethan Bjelland Hagberg will lead a discussion before the film.
• “Dreams (Sex Love),” a 2024 Norwegian film about a young woman whose writings about her first love prompt her family members to reconsider their own lives and dreams.

Individual tickets cost $12 for museum members and $14 for general admission. Full festival passes are $90 for members and $100 for general admission, while Saturday passes cost $44 for members and $52 for general admission. Festival passes also include admission to the museum’s galleries.

The full schedule and tickets are available through the National Nordic Museum.

Photo: Still image from “And Then We Danced”