In 2011, lead actress Marzieh Vafamehr was arrested in Iran and sentenced to ninety lashes and sentenced to a year in prison for appearing in this movie. However, with the assistance of a lawyer, the lashes were scrapped and the sentence reduced to three months. She had served four months in jail and subsequently was immediately released from incarceration.
The first ever Iranian-Australian co-production.
This movie is banned in Iran but illegal bootleg copies have been circulated and distributed there. They first became available whilst the picture was still playing on the film festival circuit in 2009.
This film's principal investor was the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC). The film was funded by both the SAFC and the Adelaide Film Festival where it world premiered in 2009 to sell out sessions in Official Competition.
The plot is partially based on poet-filmmaker Granaz Moussavi's own life and that of her friend Marzieh Vafamehr. It is also based on stories Moussavi was told when she volunteered as a translator at the Woomera Detention Centre in Woomera, South Australia, Australia.