The movie had to be saved from shelling. When on the 24th February 2022 the Russian invasion started, the movie wasn't completely finished. During the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion the sound designer Oleksandr Verhovynets managed to come to the sound studio and transfer all the materials abroad, where the work on the movie continued. The film is a co-production of Ukraine, France, Poland and Chile.
For nine months the actors had to live as a real Hutsul family and even refer to one another by the names of their characters in the movie.
The movie received a 6 minute standing ovation after its premiere at the Quinzaine des Realisateurs.
None of the actors was given a full script. The one who knew the most was Oleksandr Yatsentyuk, who had read all the storyline but for 12 remaining scenes.
All actors from the main cast are from the western regions of Ukraine, except for Olena Khokhlatkina. She is from Kherson region which is still as of October 2022 occupied by Russian military who kills and torture Ukrainians and rape children.
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