Dov Halpern, who plays the Seer, was a Hungarian Holocaust survivor, had never acted before, and had to have even concepts like "action" and "cut" explained to him on set.
The director, Felix Else, though not a fan of acting, appeared in the film because he needed someone who could do convincing monologues in both American English and 15th Century Italian.
During the exterior Manhattan scene, acclaimed actress Julianne Moore can be seen walking by in the background.
Filmed with short-ends obtained from the 16mm production of the Todd Haynes miniseries Mildred Pierce (2011).