The story of the mysterious break-in and robbery at flimmaker Cyril Tuschi’s Berlin studios this past weekend is one of the more remarkable and perplexing items of intrigue out of Russia this year – and that’s not a short list.

The final version of Tuschi’s film, which is said to explore the rise and fall of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was snatched from his laptops and hard drives just days before it was slated for its debut at the Berlin Film Festival.  This is the second robbery of the film since he began working on it years ago (the filmmaker’s computer was also stolen while on vacation in Bali).  Luckily, the thieves struck a little too late, as Tuschi had already sent in a final cut of the movie.

According to an article in the Guardian (one of many media to cover this strange story), the police say that the break-in was done in a very “professional” manner, while Tuschi commented, “It’s like being in a bad thriller. (…)  Someone is trying to scare me and I must admit that they are succeeding.“