According to Clemens Schick, he and Wagner Moura did not get along when they first met, but became close friends after filming their scenes.
When the film opened in Brazil, there was a lot of adverse publicity regarding the casting of Wagner Moura, the country's biggest male star, appearing in a gay film.
42 people upset with the love scenes went out of the theater, when the film premiered at the Gramado Film Festival in Gramado, Brazil. The same happened in the cities of Niterói (RJ) and São Luís (MA).
Director Karim Aïnouz - who is Brazilian - used to hang out at the titular beach when he was growing up.