The creative team behind “Soviet Jeans,” the breakout hit that won a pair of awards at Series Mania in 2024, are back with “The Last Divorce of Communism,” a period drama series set in Latvia in 1988.
The six-part series, which is now going into production, centers on an ordinary couple who stage a fake divorce in order to circumvent the USSR’s rigid real-estate policies and save their apartment from nationalization. Under constant surveillance from informants and prying neighbors, the pair must conceal their enduring love while navigating a society on the brink of collapse, and the promise of newfound freedom.
janis konons
The production will shoot across multiple seasons in Latvia and Lithuania, blending archival materials with newly filmed footage to meticulously recreate late-Soviet Riga, the Latvian capital. It’s slated to premiere in 2027.
The series was created by Teodora Markova and Stanisļavs Tokalovs, who previously teamed on “Soviet Jeans,” an offbeat drama which is gearing up for a second season and won the audience award and best actor prize at Series Mania’s International Panorama Competition a couple years ago.
“The Last Divorce of Communism” is produced by Aija Bērziņa of Latvian outfit Tasse Film. “Teodora and Stanisļavs have the rare gift of finding comedy in the cracks of history,” Bērziņa said. “‘The Last Divorce of Communism’ is our love letter to everyone who’s ever bent the rules for the people they love — a fake divorce, a real love story, and the full weight of the Soviet Union standing in the way. What more could you ask for?”
Backed by Latvian Public Media, the series is co-produced by Greta Akcijonaitė at Lithuania’s Magic Films and Martichka Bozhilova at Bulgaria’s Agitprop, with Danna Stern of In Transit Productions serving as executive producer. The series is backed by the Lithuanian Film Centre and the Bulgarian National Film Center.
The project has already garnered some buzz after being presented at several European co-production markets, including TV Days at the Serial Killer festival in Brno. It won the best pre-development award in the scripted series category at NEM Zagreb and the best fiction series pitch award at the Heart of Europe TV Festival in Warsaw. It’s set to be showcased at Media Play in Sofia in May.
Tokalovs co-directs alongside Markova and Lithuanian filmmaker Tomas Vengris. The ensemble cast includes Ieva Segliņa, Edgars Samītis, Chulpan Khamatova, Ieva Estere Barkāne, Kaspars Znotiņš and Vilis Daudziņš.
Emīls Freimanis
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