The series is based on true stories and follows Renārs, a rock & roll fan and a petty criminal, who is committed to a mental asylum for political reasons, where he starts illegal production of counterfeit US cult jeans together with his fellow inmates. The jeans gain popularity among the Latvian youth and Renārs becomes an anonymous underground legend while the KGB searches for the jeans tailoring shop all over the country.
“The socialist youth, the battles in the KGB, the obedient, the rebels, the thugs… all of them are victims of the same absurd madness. Our characters and their story pose the question: is it here in the madhouse that the only normality is born, while the world outside is crazy? All the authors in the team have different experiences with life in the Soviet era, but we are all born in different parts of the Socialist bloc. For us, this series is important not only because of the extraordinary point of view of the period, but also because of the terrifying parallels with the events of the present. We want to tell this story in its complexity, without going into extremely dark shades, but on the contrary, to feel hope, humour and beauty,” scriptwriter Teodora Markova told FNE.
Teodora Markova penned the script together with Staņislavs Tokalovs and Waldemar Kalinowski, and the cast includes Kārlis Arnodls Avots, Aamu Milonoff, Igors Šelegovskis, Gints Grāvelis, Andris Keišs and Indra Briķe.
Soviet Jeans is produced by Aija Bērziņa through Tasse Film and it is supported by the National Film Centre of Latvia, as well as Go3 and Depo DIY. The total budget is 1.65 m EUR.
As the shooting has been finalised, the team is currently working on the editing, image and sound postproduction, as well as VFX.
The series will be completed in December 2023 and released on Go3 in April 2024.
The producers are looking for worldwide sales and distribution.
Production Information:
Producer:
Tasse Film (Latvia)
Aija Bērziņa: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Elīna Losa: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Credits:
Directors: Staņislavs Tokalovs, Juris Kursietis
Scriptwriters: Teodora Markova, Staņislavs Tokalovs, Waldemar Kalinowski
Production designers: Laura Dišlere, Zanda Landrāte-Bedrīte
Costume designer: Liene Bite
Make-up designer: Maija Gundare
Editor: Oskars Morozs
Composer: Kārlis Auzāns
Sound designer: Ernests Ansons
Cast: Kārlis Arnodls Avots, Aamu Milonoff, Igors Šelegovskis, Gints Grāvelis, Andris Keišs, Indra Briķe
