The film was shot on location in Heidelberg and Frankfurt am Main, Germany and, Aksaray and Istanbul, Turkey.

[1] Variety reviewer David Stratton said "Yara succeeds on one level: as a portrait of an independent femme’s struggle to escape her environment and survive against all the odds stacked against her.

But pic suffers from melodramatic elements and a lack of motivation, making for dim international commercial prospects".

[4] In JazzTimes, Josef Woodard said "Yara emerges here as a set of tunes standing up on its own musical merits-with cinematic evocations, but also a coherent life of its own.

The pieces tend to be based on linear, horizontal constructions, entrancingly winding melodies ... this chamber setting conveys a sense of melancholic elegance, alternately bustling with subtle energy and purring with a sad, languid beauty".