Robert Fischer and Ulli Lommel go in search of influences from Hollywood on Fassbinder's work and traces that the auteur filmmaker left behind in the dream factory. Fassbinder friends like cameraman Michael Ballhaus and director Wim Wenders, who realized his dream of America for themselves, have their say. From Hanna Schygulla you can also learn interesting facts about the relationship between the German filmmaker and his great role model Douglas Sirk, the master of Hollywood melodrama.