Mehmet Cerrahoglu, who plays the role of Father, has an extremely rare skin condition that made his physical appearance very unique and instrumental to the look of Father. Director Can Evrenol had been looking for actors with rare natural appearances for the role of Father and once he was shown a photograph of Mehmet by his casting director, Evrenol immediately knew he had found his Father and instantly cast him.
Director Can Evrenol claims Mehmet Cerrahoglu contributed to many of the artistic decisions for the film's set and for his character of Father. This in spite of not having a background in art and acting.
The production crew didn't always have the permits needed to shoot the scenes for the film. This added another level of stress to the overall production, because they were worried that the authorities would discover them filming in some pretty strange locations. They also filmed some of the nude scenes in some of the most conservative sections of town and they were constantly stressed about being discovered.
In an interview with Fangoria, director Can Evrenol stated that the main inspirations for the Father's cult were the films El descenso (2005), La guerra del fuego (1981) and La frontera del miedo (2007). He also cited Nicolas Winding Refn's film, Sólo Dios perdona (2013), as a major influence because of its 'more stylistic, colorful, dreamy quality'.