Beta Film has picked up international distribution rights to the Latvian dramedy Soviet Jeans, winner of three Latvian National Film Awards for Best TV Show, Best Script, and Best Actor.

The eight-parter portraying Riga in the late 1970s will be presented to the industry at the Berlinale Series Market Selects on Monday, February 19, ahead of its International Premiere at Series Mania International Panorama Competition. This is the only production from CEE that will be showcased during the event.

Based on true stories of the times, Soviet Jeans is set in 1979 Soviet Latvia, when fiercest propaganda against Western culture ran rampant. The young rock music fan Renars Rubenis (Karlis Arnolds Avots) is sent to a mental asylum for political reasons, where he starts illegal production of counterfeit US cult jeans with his inmates. They flood the black market while the KGB tries to discover the people behind the business.

Veronika Kovacova, Beta EVP Sales & Acquisitions: “With its nostalgic, humoristic approach, Soviet Jeans caught our attention immediately. It offers a timeless view and hits a totally different tonality compared to most shows about the Soviet era. Based on true events, the series’ ironic exploration of freedom provides a fresh take on the realities of the Cold War. With a storyline more relevant than ever, I’m certain that Soviet Jeans will fascinate audiences around the globe.”

The showrunners of Soviet Jeans are Stanislavs Tokalovs (What Nobody Can See, Lovable, Everything Will Be Alright) and Teodora Markova (Under Cover, Bubblegum). Stanislavs Tokalovs, Teodora Markova, and Waldemar Kalinowski (What Nobody Can See, Lovable) are responsible for the scripts, while Stanislavs Tokalovs also shares directing credits with Juris Kursietis (Modris, Oleg). The series stars Karlis Arnolds Avots (Lovable, January), Aamu Milonoff (Girl Picture, Eden, Sisu, Utö), Igors Selegovskis (Homo Novus, River of Fear, Neon Spring), and Andris Keiss (Loveless, Ausma, Legacy).

Soviet Jeans is produced by Tasse Film, financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the National Film Center of Latvia, co-financed by Go3 and TV3, sponsored by DEPO and ORLEN Latvia. Beta Film is handling world sales.