Thomas "Dome" August George Karukoski (; born 29 December 1976) is a Finnish film director. He has won over 30 festival awards and having directed six feature films that became blockbusters in his home country and also received international recognition.
Career in films
In 1999, Karukoski was one of only three new students admitted to the University of Art and Design Helsinki to major in directing; he had had no former experience in directing or holding a camera.
Beauty and the Bastard
Karukoski's debut feature Beauty and the Bastard (Tyttö sinä olet tähti) showed at the Berlin International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival in 2006. The film, which stars Pamela Tola, concerns young people in Finland who are caught between conventional careers and more alternative forms of living. The film's score contains contemporary Finnish pop music, particularly hip-hop and rap music. Beauty and the Bastard won the Norwegian National Film Prize Amanda sponsored by Canal+ & Svensk Filmindustri AB for best Nordic Debut-Film. Beauty and the Bastard was also nominated in eight categories for the Finnish National Film Awards Jussi Award including nominations for Best film and Best director. It won the Audience Award and the prize for Best Music.
The Home of Dark Butterflies
Karukoski's second feature film The Home of Dark Butterflies (Tummien perhosten koti) premiered in Finland January 2008. It is a drama about Juhani, a 13-year-old castaway sent to a home for boys on an island. The Home of Dark Butterflies was nominated in ten categories for the Finnish National Film Awards, and this time Karukoski won the prize for the Best Director. The Home of Dark Butterflies was also chosen as Finland's representative for both The Nordic Council Film Prize and the Academy Awards.
Forbidden Fruit
Karukoski's third feature film Forbidden Fruit (Kielletty hedelmä) premiered in February 2009. Forbidden Fruit is a coming of age story about two girls who are a part of a religious sect called the Conservative Laestadianism. The film had its world premiere at the Gothenburg Film Festival. It was then shown in other prestigious film festivals, such as Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and Shanghai International Film Festival and won numerous festival awards. Forbidden Fruit received theatrical distribution in France and Poland. Karukoski was again nominated for Best director in the Finnish national film awards.
Lapland Odyssey
Karukoski's fourth film was Lapland Odyssey, a comedy about three unemployed men setting out to find a digital TV terminal in Lapland. The road trip comedy premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and became the number one box-office film of the year 2010 in Finland beating such titles as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Sex and the City 2 and Alice in Wonderland. In France the film was distributed widely in cinemas with the title Very Cold Trip. In Germany and Austria the title was Helden des Polarkreises which is a direct translation of the film's Finnish title Napapiirin sankarit. The original title translates literally into English as Heroes of the Arctic Circle. Lapland Odyssey won awards in several film festivals and received four Finnish National Film Awards, including prizes for Best film and Best director.
Burungo (short)
In 2010, Karukoski wrote and directed a fictional short film Burungo together with actress Pamela Tola. The film handles poverty and the sexuality of young girls in the slums of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. The word Burungo means both girl and commodity in the street language Sheng, spoken in the slums of Nairobi.
Mannerheim film (not made)
In August 2011, Karukoski was announced as the new director of a film about Baron C. G. E. Mannerheim, after Hollywood director Renny Harlin left the project. Mannerheim is seen as the greatest war hero in Finland. The film has not yet been made, as it has struggled for years to raise its 15 million dollar budget. If completed, the film would be the most expensive Finnish film ever.
Heart of a Lion
Karukoski's fifth film is Heart of a Lion (Leijonasydän) in which a neo-Nazi leader (played by Peter Franzén) falls in love with a woman who has a black son. It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013. Heart of a Lion premiered in Finland October 18 and was an instant success at the box office defeating films such as Gravity, Thor: The Dark World and Now You See Me. Karukoski was again nominated for Best Director in the Finnish Film Awards.