The film is a biographical account of the Soviet Estonian national basketball team Kalev, who had a very difficult decision to make in 1990. When the Soviet Union was teetering on the verge of collapse and the Soviet Union basketball championship was set to begin on the backdrop of a deeply divided society, the team had to decide whether to participate or not.

The film was produced by Estonian Allfilm and Ugri Film with Latvian Ego Media providing services for the shooting in Latvia. The film was supported by the Estonian Film Institute, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, the Riga Film Fund and the National Film Centre of Latvia through the Latvian cash rebate schemes.

Kalev is lensed by one of the most experienced Estonian cinematographers, Rein Kotov.