Synopsis
An entertaining journey across a country that made a business out of a novel: Transylvania, the origin of Bram Stoker's Dracula and ancient home of all vampires, is also characterized by the Transylvanian Saxons, who have been living there for nearly a 1.000 years - until their history came to an end in only one summer in 1990.

When Bram Stoker wrote his novel DRACULA in 1897, the Romanians didn’t pay much attention to their ancient leader Vlad Tepes (born in 1431). He most probably deserved his nickname TEPES (meaning The Impaler). Impaling is a method of lethal torture, that he adopted from the Turks. But it seems that he wasn’t any more cruel than his fellow leaders of that time. He was discredited first and mainly by the Transylvanian Saxons, because he interfered strongly in their commercial affairs. But when Stoker’s novel became a bestseller the Romanians capitalized on the novel’s hero DRACULA, and made a business out of it.

The Truth About Dracula
A film by Stanislaw Mucha, D 2010, 82 min. (HD, 25 fps), 16:9, color
A production of U5 Film-Produktion in coproduction with Hessischer Rundfunk and in cooperation with ARTE.
Supported by Hessische Filmförderung and Hessen Invest Film.

Vlad Tepes, The Impaler -
aka Count Dracula - a
Romanian Prince in
15th century:

Is he actually
one of the good guys?