'Jakob der Lügner' is the only DEFA-Film ever nominated for an Academy Award (1976, Winner: Noirs et blancs en couleur).
The original screenplay was rejected by the East German production company DEFA. Author Jurek Becker published it as a novel, which became a huge success, prompting DEFA to reconsider.
Armin Mueller-Stahl, who plays Roman Stahm, played Dr. Kirschbaum (the Professor) in the American remake, Jakob le menteur (1999).
Because Vlastimil Brodský didn't speak German very well, he did all dialogues in his mother tongue and was dubbed over for the German release of the film. This language barrier also made the scenes of dialog between him and the other actors (especially Erwin Geschonneck) a challenge.
Popular German actor Heinz Rühmann was considered for the role of Jakob. Frank Beyer was unsure whether he should cast a good friend and great, but lesser known actor (Vlastimil Brodský) or cast Rühmann in an effort to make the film accessible to a larger audience. The fact that Rühman was from West-Germany caused a lot of controversy. In the end, 'Erich Hoenecker' , political leader of East-Germany himself decided that Frank Beyer should desist from casting Heinz Rühmann.