[1] The film is a story about a group of prisoners in the Ustasha-run Stara Gradiška concentration camp that takes place during the final days of World War II.

He developed an interest in a screenplay written by Grgo Gamulin, Galić's former father-in-law, that drew heavily on his personal experiences in World War II.

[1][2] The film's release coincided with the creative zenith of Yugoslav modernist cinema, and it was largely overshadowed by other entries that included Aleksandar Petrović's I Even Met Happy Gypsies, Puriša Đorđević's The Morning, and Ante Babaja's The Birch Tree.

[1][4] Galić was disappointed by his film's failure, and the only modest consolation for him was an extra fee that he received due to Black Birds being distributed in the Soviet Union.

On this occasion, the Croatian film critic Nenad Polimac called Black Birds "the most interesting discovery of the festival" and a "sensation", praising its visual qualities and expressiveness.