Lead actor Hameis El-Sheikh, himself a refugee from Darfur, named his own character. Having provided a list of suitable names to writer/director Daniel H. Jacobson, they decided on Musa Issa Musa, a local warlord that Hameis remembered from Sudan. Given the dark and satirical nature of the film, it was the intention of El-Sheikh to mock the warlord with his decision. Ironically, the name translates to "Moses Jesus Moses" in English.
On his journey from Sudan to Israel, supporting actor Yaser Abdullah was kidnapped by human traffickers in the Sinai Pennisula. He was held for ransom over the course of several months during which time he was tortured.
Hameis El-Sheikh spent several years acting in a theater troupe in Cairo, Egypt before fleeing to Israel when the situation of Sudanese migrants in Egypt became untenable.
Producers Daniel H. Jacobson and Isgav Kutok first became acquainted while serving in the same IDF combat infantry platoon, later attending film school together in Tel Aviv.
Though most of the dialogue is in Hebrew, writer Daniel H. Jacobson wrote the screenplay for "Down the River" in English before translating it to Hebrew along with several members of the production team. Lead actor Hameis El-Sheikh then translated the Arabic sections of the screenplay from the Hebrew screenplay.