Ulrike Ottinger says her Isabelle Huppert vampire film “The Blood Countess” was shortened by as much as 20 minutes against her wishes, forcing the veteran German filmmaker to restructure the movie to make its rhythm work again.
Speaking during a German cinema evening at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where her work is being celebrated with a retrospective, Ottinger said her preferred version ran 15 to 20 minutes longer.
“The film originally had a wonderful rhythm, exactly as it was,” she said. “Then I began cutting it because everyone was forcing me to. Once I started shortening it, the rhythm no longer worked.”
The director responded by recutting the entire film to restore its balance at the reduced running time. Although she initially resisted the changes, Ottinger said she is satisfied with the result.
“From my point of view, it’s perfect now, but it was a big job to rework it again,” she said.
A Costly Vampire Production
In “The Blood Countess,” also titled “Die Blutgräfin,” Huppert plays a vampire countess who reappears in present-day Vienna. Lars Eidinger and Burgtheater actor Birgit Minichmayr co-star. The movie had its world premiere at the Berlinale in February.
Ottinger selected the principal cast herself. She said Huppert remained attached to the project for 20 years, while Eidinger was highly enthusiastic about participating.
“What I need in my film are actors who can always play something different,” the director said.
The production also became the most expensive film Ottinger has made. She wanted a 40-day shoot but was given 30 days, while the crew grew to more than 100 people. Ottinger said she would have preferred to work more closely with a crew half that size in exchange for additional shooting days.
She identified modern safety requirements as a major source of rising costs, acknowledging that some measures are essential while criticizing others as excessive and bureaucratic.
Ottinger said that when she produced her own movies, she could deliver high-quality films for €2.5 million to €3 million ($2.9 million to $3.5 million). In the current production environment, she estimated that meeting all requirements demands at least €7 million to €8 million ($8 million to $9.2 million). She cited that increase as the reason she no longer produces her own work.
Vienna Inspired the Vampire Story
The setting supplied Ottinger with several of the ideas behind the film. Her inspirations included Vienna’s Narrenturm, an underground lake, the Habsburg burial sites and the dynasty’s practice of triple burial.
“All these things inspired me very much,” she said. “That’s also why I chose the vampire genre.”
Nihon University German film professor Shibuya Tetsuya, who delivered an introductory lecture on German cinema, noted another unusual element: the film includes a vegetarian vampire.
Ottinger entered filmmaking from the visual arts and described herself as an outsider within German cinema. Rather than concentrating on psychological dramas, she has made image-driven films. Her Tokyo retrospective also features “Ticket of No Return,” the opening installment of her Berlin Trilogy, and “Under Snow” (2011), which was filmed in Niigata’s snow country and on Sado Island.
German Film Funding Under Scrutiny
The same event broadened into a discussion of the pressures facing contemporary German cinema. Barbara Wurm, the Austrian head of the Berlinale’s Forum section, challenged the idea that the country’s film-funding structure is entirely favorable.
Since Jan. 1, 2025, production support from Germany’s federal film board, the FFA, has been awarded automatically according to admissions and festival success, replacing the board’s jury selection process. Wurm said producers now receive support for a subsequent project only if an earlier film reached a specified audience level or screened at designated festivals. They must also provide audience projections.
Wurm argued that the model directs large sums toward a limited number of movies, to the detriment of smaller productions and documentaries. The Forum itself is absent from the FFA’s current festival reference list, despite being independently curated by the Arsenal film institute.
The list gives points to German films selected for the Berlinale’s Competition, Panorama, Generation and Perspectives sections, along with Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and Venice’s Orizzonti and Critics’ Week.
Federal economic film funding has also shifted. Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer nearly doubled it to €250 million ($288 million) for 2026, but that money has already been used. The draft 2027 budget proposes approximately €200 million ($230 million), subject to parliamentary approval. Jury-based cultural funding continues alongside the automatic system.
ShowBiz Take
Ottinger’s account offers a revealing contrast: “The Blood Countess” emerged from its extensive recut in a form she now calls perfect, yet reaching that point required her to surrender up to 20 minutes and rebuild the movie’s rhythm. Combined with a shortened shooting schedule, a crew of more than 100 and sharply higher production costs, the experience shows how creative choices can be reshaped by the practical demands surrounding a film.
The wider funding debate at the Tokyo event adds another dimension. While significant federal money is being committed, Wurm maintains that the current system favors fewer, larger recipients instead of the breadth created by supporting many films, including smaller and less-seen work.