Certain scenes in the movie were so disturbing or humiliating for the leading actress that Iwona Petry disappeared from public life and quit acting just after her debut.
In contrast, most of the supporting actors were very active on TV in the 2000s.
Due to its scandalous nature, the film was nicknamed "Last Tango in Warsaw" by Polish critics.
The title is the feminine form of the word "shaman" in Polish.
Iwona Petry was chosen by Andrzej Zulawski after he met her accidentally in a café in Warsaw. Petry was at the time a sociology student, with no previous acting experience. Although there were rumors in the Polish press that Zulawski used voodoo to improve the performance of Petry, she was in fact trained by French coach Harmel Sbraire, who had previously worked with Juliette Binoche.
The screenplay had been written by Manuela Gretkowska, a Polish writer and feminist.