The film started as a short documentary, but the filmmakers changed their plan when Karl-Bertil saw himself painted for the first time. Then they decided to keep on filming for many years to come. They filmed from 2016-2019 not knowing what would happen or where the story might go.
A friend of Barbora began filming her already back in 2014. She took photos and filmed the making of the two paintings that later would be stolen and she was also there during the exhibition. She also participated in the trial. The courtroom recordings are the actual recording of the first meeting of Karl-Bertil and Barbora. Together with the CCTV footage, these archives makes up the beginning of the film.
In the trial she brought with her an audio recorder so she could get the trial translated afterwards, properly. She approached Karl-Bertil (the thief) during a break.
The filmmakers read about the robbery in various Norwegian newspapers. They contacted Barbora and began filming her first, and it took some time to get access to film Karl-Bertil (the thief). They began filming him the 4th time Barbora and Karl-Bertil met.
From the director's statement: "From the moment I began filming I wanted to explore the complex friendship between the painter and the thief. Two questions were the driving motor: What do we humans do to be seen and appreciated, and why do we help others? For me, filmmaking is about asking intellectually stimulating and emotionally engaging questions through observing human behavior. I hope I have managed to raise some intriguing questions with this film, questions you will think about long after the end credits. I have also tried to push the cinema verite form onto a new path, with several perspectives jumping back and forth in time, revealing new layers of the friendship throughout the whole film. I have worked hard to find a cinematic form to suit the content for each scene, that reflects the inner state of the characters."
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