A monumental essay-film that proposes a history of the United States through the prism of the life and career of actor Henry Fonda, who famously played Abraham Lincoln and is perhaps best remembered as the juror with a conscience who pits reason against the prejudices of 11 others in Twelve Angry Men (1957). Austrian film historian, and former director of the Austrian Film Museum, Alexander Horwath makes his directorial debut with a film that is a cinephile’s dream but whose realm transcends far beyond cinema itself.

“Henry Fonda and the roles he played merge into a dazzling and conflicted figure. A very private man who thought he had ‘no good answers to anything’ becomes the unlikely motor of a parallel history. His voice, recorded during his last interview in 1981, and his onscreen avatars guide us through America’s past and present – on a road trip from the village of Fonda, NY, across the Midwest to the Pacific; from 1651 to the 1980s and the presidency of another movie actor. It takes many places and times and characters to imagine an invisible republic – the United States of Fonda.” (Alexander Horwath)

Followed by a conversation between Alexander Horwath and Erika Balsom.