A story involving a group of traveling actors who perform at an experimental prison where the thieves have first class comforts provided to them by a reformist warden. Ironically the troupe performs a play named The State Thief, a play about thieves for thieves.
Direction
Hadžić's wry eye for institutional absurdity shines.
Writing
Meta-layered script blurs performer and prisoner.

Director
Fadil Hadžić
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hadžić, a Croatian filmmaking legend, frequently skewered Yugoslav bureaucracy; this 2005 satire arrived post-war, targeting privatization-era corruption.
The fictional prison's 'first class' concept directly mirrors real debates about Norwegian-style humane incarceration that were emerging in Balkan policy discussions at the time.