All the roles were played by students of the VGIK. Moreover, props were not only brought by students from their homes, but also provided from friends and relatives.
This is Andrei Tarkovsky's first student film co-directed with his brother-in-law Aleksandr Gordon while they were studying at VGIK (Moscow Film Institute)
In the first scene, one of the characters whistles a jazzy tune. It is "Lullaby of Birdland" by George Shearing, published in 1952.
This film is included on "The Killers - 3 Adaptions", which is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #176.