rako prijanto, titien wattimena, and producer reza hidayat began development of the film in december 2013. research was conducted in karo as to the customs, culture, and food of the region. the film covers a wide time period, the 1930s to the present. some of the scenes in the film use dialogue in karo language, and several of the cast took training in that language to get the correct dialects and accents.