This film was a school project for director Aku Louhimies, writer Aleksi Bardy, and editor Samu Heikkilä. They all graduated from Helsinki University of Art and Design in December 2000.
The film is a loose adaptation of Albert Camus' novel "The Stranger" set in present day Turku, which turns the story into an erotic drama.
Actor Matleena Kuusniemi said she was unfairly treated during the promotion of the film, refusing to participate on the film's press tour. Kuusniemi felt she was the victim of sexual objectification and that the production company didn't listened to her at the time (in the interview in 2015, Kuusniemi revealed that Solar Films' publicist Rampe Toivonen later apologized to her about the marketing). In March 2018, Kuusniemi confronted director Aku Louhimies during a live broadcast of the series A-studio (1971). Louhimies admitted the poorly executed marketing and apologized Kuusniemi several times. Louhimies and Kuusniemi have worked together before and since Senza fiato (2000) (most recently in Naked Harbour (2012)).
The second time assistant director Ray Corbett has worked in Finland as a part of the location film crew. The first was Il sole a mezzanotte (1985) 15 years earlier, including scenes shot in Helsinki, Parainen and Pori (to stand in for Leningrad and Siberia). Senza fiato (2000) was shot in Turku.
The original cinematographer August Jakobsson was replaced by Mac Ahlberg after a few weeks of shooting in July, 1999. Jakobsson retains a screen credit for second unit cinematography.