RIGA: Stanislavs Tokalovs is teaming up with producer Aija Bērziņa of Latvian Tasse Film on a new series set in the Communism era, after their big hit dramedy series Soviet Jeans / Padomju džinsi, which was directed by Tokalovs together with Juris Kursietis. The 6-part drama series The Last Divorce of Communism / Pēdējā šķiršanās is built as a Latvian/Lithuanian/Bulgarian coproduction directed by Teodora Markova, Stanislavs Tokalovs, and Tomas Vengris.
Set in Soviet Riga in 1988, the series created and written by Markova and Tokalovs follows an ordinary couple, who stage a fake divorce to outsmart the USSR’s real-estate policy and save their apartment from nationalisation. Watched by informants and suspicious neighbours, they struggle to keep their secret love alive while being seduced by a newfound taste of freedom.
Ieva Segliņa, Edgars Samītis, Chulpan Khamatova, Ieva Estere Barkāne, Kaspars Znotiņš, and Vilis Daudziņš are the main cast.
“The housing policy of the Soviet Union imposed severe restrictions on citizens and only a minority of the population owned private apartments. This resulted in various clever and absurdist schemes that people invented in order to keep their property. One of the practices was the sham divorce that inspired this project, as it offers an ultimate reversal of the fake marriage plot. The main theme and question of our new limited series are freedom and the various aspects of it. Personal, familial and social freedom set against the turbulent backdrop of Latvia’s late 1980s and the fight for independence. All our principal characters are driven by their growing need to disobey the rules. This creates turmoil in their personal lives, and on a larger scale expresses the urgency for change in Latvian society”, director Stanislavs Tokalovs told FNE.
The series is produced by Aija Bērziņa through Latvia’s Tasse Film, and coproduced by Greta Akcijonaitė through Lithuania’s Kino Metropolis, and Martichka Bozhilova through Bulgaria’s Agitprop. Executive producer is Danna Stern from In Transit Productions (Germany).
The project is financed by the Latvian Public Media (LSM), the Lithuanian Film Centre, the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Estonian Public Broadcasting – ERR, the Television of Slovakia – RTVS, the Lithuanian National Radio and Television – LRT, and Neterra.TV (Bulgaria).
The total budget is 2,005,766 EUR.
The filming began on 13 February 2026 in Riga and Liepaja (Latvia), and it will continue until July 2026 in Riga and Liepaja, and also in Lithuania.The shooting takes place in blocks spanning different seasons.
The expected completion of the series is June 2027.
Production Information:
Producer:
Tasse Film (www.tasse.lv) (Latvia)www.tasse.lv
Aija Bērziņa: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Coproducers:
Kino Metropolis (Lithuania)
Agitprop (Bulgaria)
Executive producer:
In Transit Productions (Germany)
Credits:
Directors: Teodora Markova, Stanislavs Tokalovs, Tomas Vengris
Creators and screenwriter: Teodora Markova, Stanislavs Tokalovs
DoP: Valdis Celmiņš
Cast: Ieva Segliņa, Edgars Samītis, Chulpan Khamatova, Ieva Estere Barkāne, Kaspars Znotiņš, Vilis Daudziņš
