The movie joke about gap-toothed men being seductive to women was an in-joke by the co-scriptwriter Suha Arraf, toward Mr. Riklis, who is himself gap-toothed. She also included many of her own experiences as an intelligent independent Arab woman living in Israel.
Filming was done in two different Druze villages, one pro-Syrian and one pro-Israeli, depending on the political tilt of the scenes. Also, since Israeli authorities would not give permission to film at the actual border, a mock-up was built some distance away.