Deliberate mistake: At least twice the protagonist uses the bus n*38 who brings him in and out of his new neighbourhood and that has on its side an ad banner. The banner pays homage to the movie Roger Spottiswoode directed before this one (in 2014, so it'd be an anachronism given this movie's events), but it stands out for not being done properly. The first time we see it it does not have proper 'credits', copywrite, tagline, to the point that it's not possible to understand what does it advertise, the second time it does have some writing. The title quoted is also wrong, since it's written as "The Midnight Sun", while the title before re-release was "Midnight Sun." (00:11:40 - 00:38:30)
Deliberate mistake: While the events depicted in the film take place over nearly a decade and a half, the characters are not shown as having aged at all throughout the film, apart from Mike Lazaridis. In fact, characters are seen wearing the same clothes and the same ties between scenes that are set years apart.
Deliberate mistake: Although much of Auto Focus revolves around the 1960s hit television series "Hogan's Heroes," the producers of this independent film could not work out a licensing agreement with CBS regarding the famous "Hogan's Heroes" theme music. As a result, the familiar "Hogan's Heroes" theme music is entirely absent from Auto Focus, replaced with contrived theme music that isn't even remotely similar to the original.
Deliberate mistake: The mechanic points out the overhead installation of the indicator compass. He says "Want to see where I put the compass? It's the best place I could find for it." The installation site was planned, not improvised. In order to read the compass in a mirror the compass was specially ordered from the manufacturer with the numbers reversed so it could only be read in a mirror. This mistake was intentional in order to claim a mirror was needed from a bit character.