‘Soviet Jeans’ Team Kicks Off Production on Last Divorce of Communism

The artistic team behind “Soviet Jeans,” the breakout hit that gained a pair of awards at Series Mania in 2024, are again with “The Last Divorce of Communism,” a interval drama sequence set in Latvia in 1988.

The six-part sequence, which is now going into manufacturing, facilities on an abnormal couple who stage a pretend divorce with a purpose to circumvent the USSR’s inflexible real-estate insurance policies and save their condominium from nationalization. Under fixed 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.

The manufacturing will shoot across a number of seasons in Latvia and Lithuania, mixing archival supplies with newly filmed footage to meticulously recreate late-Soviet Riga, the Latvian capital. It’s slated to premiere in 2027.

The sequence was created by Teodora Markova and Stanisļavs Tokalovs, who beforehand teamed on “Soviet Jeans,” an offbeat drama which is gearing up for a second season and gained the viewers award and best actor prize at Series Mania’s International Panorama Competition a pair years in the past.

“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 sequence 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 govt producer. The sequence is backed by the Lithuanian Film Centre and the Bulgarian National Film Center.

The project has already garnered some buzz after being introduced at a number of European co-production markets, including TV Days at the Serial Killer pageant in Brno. It gained the best pre-development award in the scripted sequence class at NEM Zagreb and the best fiction sequence 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 solid contains Ieva Segliņa, Edgars Samītis, Chulpan Khamatova, Ieva Estere Barkāne, Kaspars Znotiņš and Vilis Daudziņš.