Principal photography took place in November and December 2018 in Morocco and Italy.
The title of the film was originally a poem by Greek poet C.P. Cavafy. It is this poem that lent its title to the novel by J.M. Coetzee, which, in turn, the film was based on.
The adaptation of the novel was written by J.M. Coetzee himself. It's his first produced script. He also wrote an adaptation of his novel '" In the Heart of the Country, which he published in 2014 and remains unproduced.
The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Venice Film Festival in competition.