Austrian Alexander Horwath’s film career spans four decades. In the early years he wrote as a critic, in the 1990s he ran the Viennale International Film Festival and from 2002 to 2017 the Austrian Film Museum.
As a writer, Horwath tends towards history and the essay form. In his co-edited book, The Last Great American Picture Show – New Hollywood Cinema in the 1970s (2004), he says he started going to the cinema regularly in the late 1970s, inspired by Star Wars. Gradually, he discovered the acclaimed auteur films of the decade and became aware of the contrast between the two traditions. Horwath has since edited Josef von Sternberg – The Case of Lena Smith (2008), which focuses on the director’s missing film. The book speculates on the film and brings it to life by combining historical documents with essays by well-known film writers.
Last year, Horwath made his 185-minute debut film, Henry Fonda for President (2024). It is no coincidence that he is giving his masterclass on The Grapes of Wrath (1940), which made Fonda a part of American – and cinematic – history.
Kaisu Tervonen