The creative team behind the blockbuster Soviet Jeans, which won two awards at 2024 Series Mania, returns with The Last Divorce of Communism, a historical drama series set in 1988 Latvia.
The six-part series, which is currently in production, centers on an ordinary couple who stage a fake divorce to circumvent the Soviet Union’s strict real estate policies and save their apartment from nationalization. Under constant surveillance from informants and nosy neighbors, the couple must navigate a crumbling society and the promise of newfound freedom while hiding their undying love.
Janice Connons
Shot over multiple seasons in Latvia and Lithuania, the film combines archival material and newly shot footage to meticulously recreate Latvia’s capital Riga in the late Soviet Union. It is scheduled to be first broadcast in 2027.
The series is created by Teodora Markova and Stanisyahus Tokarovs, who previously teamed up on Soviet Jeans, a quirky drama that is being prepped for a second season and won the Audience Award and Best Actor Award at Series Mania’s International Panorama Competition a few years ago.
“The Last Divorce of Communism” will be produced by Aija Berjiša of the Latvian film company Tasse Film. “Theodora and Stanisyahus have a rare talent for finding comedy in the gaps of history,” Berzysha said. “The Last Divorce of Communism is our love letter to everyone who has ever bent the rules for the sake of someone they love. A fake divorce, a real love story, and the weight of the Soviet Union standing in your way. What more could you ask for?”
The series is supported by Latvian Public Media and co-produced by Greta Aksihonaite of Lithuania’s Magic Films and Martychka Bozilova of Bulgaria’s Agitprop, with Dana Stern of In Transit Productions serving as executive producer. The series is supported by the Lithuanian Film Center and the Bulgarian National Film Center.
The project has already been announced at several European co-production markets, including TV Days at Brno’s Serial Killer Festival, and is already generating buzz. The film 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 will be unveiled at a media play in Sofia in May.
Tokarovs will co-direct with Markova and Lithuanian filmmaker Tomas Venglis. The ensemble cast includes Ieva Segriša, Edgars Samitis, Chulpan Khamatova, Ieva Estere Barkan, Kaspar Znotiš, and Vilis Dauziš.
Emers Freimanis
