Join us for a special post-screening discussion with filmmaker Alexander Horwath, in person

With his first feature documentary and essay, revered Austrian writer, curator, and film historian Alexander Horwath reflects on the legacy of actor Henry Fonda as both a star and patriarch of one of America’s most beloved acting families. Horwath uses dozens of clips from Fonda’s films, spanning almost the entirety of the 20th century, as a lens to reflect on the myth and lure of the United States. As described by film critic A. S. Hamrah, “Horwath’s film is at least three things: a study of Fonda’s career, a social history of his films as they relate to developments in American history from the 18th century to the present, and a clear-eyed, coast-to-coast travelogue by a European, in the tradition of Alexis de Tocqueville and Jean Baudrillard.”  (Alexander Horwath, 2024, DCP, German and English with English subtitles, 184 minutes)

With thanks to the Austrian Foreign Ministry for their support of this program. 

Image caption: Still from John Ford’s Grapes of Wrath (1940), courtesy of 20th Century-Fox / Photofest