Christopher Browne, also known as Chris Browne, is an American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker and director. He is noted for directing the sports documentaries that "shed light on the oddballs and underdogs of the sporting world."

Early life

Browne is a graduate of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. While there, he was a varsity squash player and a member of

St. Anthony Hall St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectar ...

Career

Browne's film career began in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

as a production assistant on television commercials. He then took a job on a documentary called ''The Paris Review…Early Chapters'' (2001) produced by Checkerboard Films. The movie, which chronicled

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was known for " participat ...

's early years at the ''Paris Review'', offered the opportunity to work alongside legendary documentarian

Albert Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films in ...

. Working with Mr. Maysles spurred Brownes' interest in documentary film and he stayed at the Checkerboard Films another year where he supervised the post-production of ''The Paris Review: Early Years'', and helped produce ''Ralph Gibson: Photographer/Book Artist'' (2002). In 2002, Browne co-founded Dionysian Films with Bill Bryan and his brother Alex Browne and friend Bill Bryan.

A League of Ordinary Gentlemen

A League of Ordinary Gentlemen ''A League of Ordinary Gentlemen'' is a documentary film about ten-pin bowling that was released on DVD on March 21, 2006. It was written and directed by Christopher Browne (director), Christopher Browne and stars PBA Tour players Pete Weber (bowl ...

'' (2004) was his first feature film, emerging from following the

Professional Bowlers Association The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and currently owned by the Lucky Strike Entertainment Corpor ...

tour with cameras for twenty weeks. The documentary premiered at the 2004

South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

where it won the Audience Choice award. It was also screened at

AFI Fest The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

Cinevegas CineVegas was a film festival held annually at the Palms Casino Resort in Paradise, Nevada, that ran from 1999 to 2009, typically in early June. CineVegas was originally held at Bally's. The first Festival featured “The Best of the Fests”, sh ...

, and the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' noted, "First-time helmer Chris Browne’s sense of humor captures perfectly the contradictions, absurdities and drama at the intersection of class, media, money and sports without dissing any of his player/subjects." It was televised nationally on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...

'' on April 25, 2006.

After the Cup

''After The Cup: Sons of Sakhnin United'' (2010) was Browne's second feature film and was distributed by

Variance Films Variance Films is a privately held film distribution company founded in 2008 that uses an innovative model of self-distribution combined with select elements of traditional theatrical distribution to allow filmmakers to achieve quality theatrical ...

.official website for After The Cup: Sons of Sakhnin United
Also a documentary, ''After the Cup'' chronicles the story of the Israeli soccer team from the town of

Sakhnin Sakhnin (; or ''Sikhnin'') is a city in Israel's Northern District. It is located in the Lower Galilee, about east of Acre. Sakhnin was declared a city in 1995. In its population was , mostly Muslim with a sizable Christian minority. Geogra ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The story follows the players, coaches, and fans as they journey together after winning the national cup. This win is significant because aside from the lack of funding,

Bnei Sakhnin F.C. Bnei Sakhnin F.C. (, , ) is an Israeli professional football club based at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin. They are the most successful club among the Arab-Israeli clubs in the country, having won the State Cup in 2004. History Early years Bnei ...

is also notable for being composed mostly of Arab players with a Jewish owner and a Jewish coach. ''After The Cup'' has been welcomed with critical acclaim when it played at the

, the

Boston Jewish Film Festival The Boston Jewish Film Festival (BJFF) is an annual film festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world. The festival presents features, shorts, documentaries, and conversations with visiting artists in o ...

, the Washington Jewish Film Festival, and Kicking and Screening Soccer Film Festival as well as others from around the country. The film was released May 21, 2010. '' Vanity Fair'' said the film was "an energetic, edge-of-your-seat genuine crowd pleaser."

References

External links

Christopher Browne
at IMDb {{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Christopher Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Pennsylvania alumni St. Anthony Hall American documentary film directors