The exterior scene of the church was shot at the Saint-Édouard church in Gentilly, Quebec, where the real Imelda and the real Simone used to go pray every Sunday. However, the interior sequence was filmed in Cocathedral Saint Anthony of Padua in Longueuil, Quebec, which is one of the oldest churches in the Montreal area. Founded in 1698 and completed in 1911 (the year Imelda was born), this Gothic revival church was classified as a historical monument by the Government of Quebec in 1984. In an amazing coincidence, the cathedral was undergoing massive renovations when director Martin Villeneuve shot this film, with the scaffolding adding to the impressiveness of the location and contributing to the movie's subtext.
This is a much anticipated return to cinema for Ginette Reno, who has not been seen on the big screen since A Family Secret (2006). Filmmaker Martin Villeneuve said he could not think of anyone else to play his maternal grandmother Simone, Imelda's lifelong adversary. "Not only does she look and sound the part," says Villeneuve, "but she was also my grandma's favorite singer." Because the real Simone used to sing at the church, it was a perfect opportunity to have Ginette Reno sing in this film.
Because the Villeneuve family used to own an old in-ground swimming pool that no longer exists, filmmaker Martin Villeneuve needed to find a similar one for this movie. However, the pool needed to look neglected and like a frog pond, as it did during Imelda's last years. Villeneuve found the perfect pool in his hometown of Gentilly, Quebec, and shot the monologue about frogs beside it. Amazingly, some frogs were swimming in the pool on that day, so Villeneuve took the opportunity to give one of them its glorious close-up for the opening shot.
This film was partly shot in the small village of Gentilly, Quebec, where Martin Villeneuve and his older brother Denis Villeneuve grew up. The main character of Imelda, played by Martin, is based on their paternal grandmother, while the character of Simone, portrayed by Ginette Reno, is inspired by their maternal grandmother.
Filmmakers Martin and his older brother Denis Villeneuve are the descendants of three generations of notaries. Mélenda "Imelda" Villeneuve was the quirky and incorruptible paternal grandmother. Martin Villeneuve has been impersonating her for years, originally to entertain family and friends. Following her death in 2012, Martin brought her back to life by creating the short film Imelda (2014). After its success, he wrote a script for a feature film. He approached Robert Lepage to play Imelda's son Jean, and Ginette Reno to play Simone, his other grandmother, but was unable to finance the project. Rather than abandon it, he rewrote it into two short films of 14 minutes each: Imelda 2: le notaire (2020) and Imelda 3: Simone (2020). Finally, Martin self-produced the feature film version, titled Les 12 travaux d'Imelda (2022), which premiered in 2022.