The date this film was released, 7 October 1999, would have been exactly the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the German Democratic Republic.
Director Leander Haußmann claims that the film is not based upon Thomas Brussig' novel. According to Haußmann, he, Brussig and Detlev Buck had written the screenplay together, and Brussig had written his novel afterwords.
Miriam's neighbors are called Paul and Paula and Winfried Glatzeder plays the neighbor Paul. This is a reference to Die Legende von Paul und Paula (1973), starring Winfried Glatzeder and Angelica Domröse as Paul and Paula.
Director Leander Haußmann mentioned in an interview that he made a documentary about the actual Sonnenallee and discovered that there actually was a blackout near the Berlin Wall. It was done during the setting of rocket flares. The people told him that they never saw such a beautiful firework as on that day when the electric current was off. This inspired him to add this scene to the movie.
While not directly mentioned in the movie the story is set in 1973, which can be seen by the reference of Die Legende von Paul und Paula (1973) and the Rolling Stones-Album "Exile on Main St".