Dylcia Pagan was one of the 13 Puerto RIcan political prisoners and prisoners of war that President Clinton pardoned in 1999. When vagabond called to ask Dylcia to be in the film he was hesitant because Dylcia was still on parole. When he called her to ask her to be in the film she had just gotten off the phone ten minutes earlier with her lawyer who informed her that she was no longer on parole.
The only permit that was pulled for the film was for the one day of shooting that was done in the prison in the Bronx. The rest of the film was shot using guerrilla tactics.