DOME KARUKOSKI
Karukoski was born in Cyprus in 1976 and is the son of journalist Ritva Karukoski and actor and poet George Dickerson. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in film directing, from the School of Motion Picture, University of Art and Design (UIAH). Dome is one of Finland’s most acclaimed directors. His films have received 38 nominations in the Finnish Film Awards, and he has been awarded the prize for best director twice. He is the only Finnish director ever to win all the main Finnish national awards (Best Film, Best TV-show and Best Commercial). "The Home of Dark Butterflies" and "Tom of Finland" were chosen as the Finnish selections for the Oscars® Best Foreign Language Film category. His latest films that have garnered international attention include "The Grump" (TIFF 2014), "Heart of a Lion" (TIFF 2013) and "Lapland Odyssey" (TIFF 2010). In 2013, he was selected as one of Variety’s 10 Director’s To Watch. Karukoski’s other film credits include "Forbidden Fruit" (2009) and "Beauty and the Bastard" (2005). His television credits include the series "Awakening" (2011), "Protectors" (2008) and "Brothers" (2008).

Director's statement
"I’ve been a fan of Tolkien since I was 12 years old so the most important thing to me is to bring all the emotions I had reading his books to this movie. TOLKIEN is a magical story of love and friendship. It’s the story of an orphaned boy finding fellowship, going to war and discovering the one woman he’ll love for eternity. At the same time, it is about how Tolkien, in his creative brilliance, might have been inspired to weave each of these real things—friendship, war and love—into his incredibly lively fantasy worlds".