Period scenes were shot in studio. Present day scenes were shot live on location, without script.
The movie is a loose adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's "The Gentleman in the Parlour. A Record of a Journey from Rangoon to Haiphong".
Official submission of Portugal for the 'Best International Feature Film' category of the 97th Academy Awards in 2025.
The present day documentary scenes were halted due to the COVID 19 pandemic before reaching China. The crew hired a Chinese crew to shoot the scenes while remotely directing them from Lisbon.
The narrative is based on the short story "Mabel" by W.Somerset Maugham, though no mentioning of it can be found in the credits.