
Director Alix Lambert explores the intricate language of Russian Criminal Tattoos with this vivid look at a vanishing practice as presented by the prisoners, guards, and criminologists who know it best. Filmed inside some of Russia's roughest prisons - including the notorious White Swan - this documentary focuses on the penitentiary and criminal environments where the practice once thrived. As the brutal history of The Zone and The Code of Thieves of the vory v zakone opens up before your very eyes, you'll bear witness to an entire history of violence told exclusively through the art of the tattoo.