There is a sequence of the film shot at 770 Eastern Parkway, the worldwide headquarters of Chabad Lubavitch. With actor Joshua Safdie and actor-director Daniel Kremer, the filmmakers snuck cameras into 770 and shot the sequence guerrilla style. They were featured in a Lubavitch news service the very next day.
The title "ezer kenegdo" translates as a helpmate/rescuer and a force of resistance (in the same breath).
The film spent nearly five years in editing and post-production. Production started in January 2013; the film finally premiered in November 2017 at the Joseph Conrad Festival in Krakow, Poland. Many versions and rough cuts were shown to various audiences over these years. Responding to feedback, a number of scenes were reshot, and the ending was changed four times. Because of the nature of the production, striking the right balance in editing was challenging. This film officially launched the Bricolage Film Collective, though the other Bricolage productions would be released well before this one was.
Premiered at the Joseph Conrad Festival in Krakow, Poland in 2017. Festival director Grzegorz Jankowicz introduced the film and moderated a Q&A.
Daniel Kremer: [Handwritten letters] Crumpled up in the pocket of an old suit jacket, Izzy unexpectedly finds a letter that Levi had written to him years ago. In a key scene, the letter is read to Marek.
Daniel Kremer: [Movie within the movie] Kremer features a scene with a film playing on a television or in a screening space. In this, Marek and Irek watch Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937) and imitate the Japanese actors in that film.