To ensure the authenticity of the prison experience, Jacques Audiard hired former convicts as advisers and extras.
Prior to making this film, Jacques Audiard had screened a film for prisoners in France. Shocked by the prison conditions, he decided his next film would take place in one.
The director met Tahar Rahim when they shared an automobile ride from another film set. Niels Arestrup plays a villain in Jacques Audiard's previous film.
France's official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010).
Though Niels Arestrup, who plays the terrifying Corsican crime lord who runs the prison, was in Jacques Audiard's previous film, the director met Tahar Rahim, who plays Malik, when they shared an automobile ride from another film set.