the film contains several cameos from well-known actors and other celebrities, made possible by hamer's high standing as a director. his previous film was the international production "factotum", based on the novel by charles bukowski, starring matt dillon, lili taylor, and marisa tomei. some of the appearances are relatively brief; nørby, for instance, is on screen for less than three minutes, while the well-known norwegian entertainer trond viggo torgersen appears for only 59 seconds. before the film's première on boxing day 2007, a pre-screening was held for journalists on 22 december. this was followed by dinner, attended by all the protagonists, at the restaurant "valkyrien" in oslo, where odd horten is also a regular customer in the film.