Actor Vinícius de Oliveira has been training in a football school for two years in order to prepare himself for this film.
The motorcycle riding sequences were filmed on actual traffic in the streets of São Paulo, instead of blocking streets and avenues to compose a fictional shooting. Director Walter Salles counted with the collaboration of a European associate who designed cameras to be put on top of motorcycles, capturing images from all sides, front and back as if being part of the action.
Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas conceived the film in 2002, before moving on to make Die Reise des jungen Che (2004).
Third collaboration between Walter Salles and Vinícius de Oliveira after Central Station (1998) and Hinter der Sonne - Behind the Sun (2001).
The four actors playing the brothers lived together during rehearsal period in order to create a bond between them.