The Mark of Cain

This is available on DVD from Black Diamond Films - http://www.blackdiamond.co.uk/ or via Amazon (the 2006 DVD from Black Diamond, not the 2007 film starring Matthew McNulty).

From the box-blurb - "The Mark of Cain, a feature-length documentary by Alix Lambert, explores the dying art of Russian prison tattoos to offer audiences an understanding of conflict and transition in contemporary Russia. Through intimate interviews that enable the prisoners to talk about their life experiences, body art and living conditions, a powerful story emerges of tension between prisoners of different generations and different social-economic systems. The Mark of Cain documents for the first time the disappearing artistic practice of Russian prison tattoos; further, the project investigates the nature of change in Russia by examining what is happening in the country's prisons."

I heard about this film in interviews with David Kronenberg about his new movie "Eastern Promises" - apparently Vigor Mortensson found this documentary and showed it to Kronenberg during the filming, and it became a large influence. It's a nice companion to the Russian Tattoo Encyclopedia volumes by Danzig Baldayev, too.