Six languages are spoken in the film: Castilian, French, North African Arabic, Catalan, Classical Arabic, and English. Tasia is played by two actresses: Adriane Erdos and the Moroccan artist Hanan Aabid, whose voice we hear and whose calligraphy we see. Although some of the film's motifs suggest it was a response to the events of 9/11, the first draft of the screenplay was finished before the attacks.