Henry Fonda for President

A documentary essay about the United States—viewed through the lens of a film actor. Henry Fonda and his roles merge into a multifaceted and complex figure. A very reserved man who sees himself as anonymous, as a “blank space,” becomes the driving force, the secret author of a grand narrative about America. His voice, recorded in 1981 during his final interview, and the characters he played guide us through the film—and on a road trip across the United States: from a town called Fonda, NY, through the Midwest, where the actor grew up, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. And they take us through the country’s history, from 1651 to the 1980s, when another film actor became U.S. president.