The frequency-dependent response of a one-dimensional fermion system is investigated using Current Density Functional Theory (CDFT) within the local approximation (LDA). DFT-LDA, and in particular CDFT-LDA, reproduces very well the dispersion of the collective excitations. Unsurprisingly, however, the approximation fails for details of the dynamic response for large wavevectors. In particular, we introduce CDFT for the one-dimensional spinless fermion model with nearest-neighbor interaction, and use CDFT-LDA plus exact (Bethe ansatz) results for the groundstate energy as function of particle density and boundary phase to determine the linear response. The successes and failures of this approach are discussed in detail.