Christopher Munch is an American writer-director-producer, self-taught in filmmaking and hailing from Southern California. Born to astrophysicist Guido Münch and writer Louise Fernandez, he began creating films at a young age.
Munch's 2020 feature, The 11th Green, was a New York Times Critic's Pick and utilized a bold, hybrid form to explore the folklore of UFOs and presidents, becoming increasingly timely since its release. Several of his previous features premiered at Sundance, and his debut, The Hours and Times (1991),a speculative biopic of Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, won a special jury prize at the festival. The micro-budget production, shot in Spain, went on to receive wide critical acclaim in the U.S. and England.
Munch's second feature, the sprawling period drama Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day (1996),was based on a true story he had read as a child about a young trolley mechanic who tries to save a doomed short-line railroad to Yosemite National Park. The award-winning cinematography, by his frequent collaborator Rob Sweeney, was inspired by the early landscape photography of Carleton Watkins.
Over a decade later, Munch returned to a majestic landscape with Letters from the Big Man (2011),shot in remote parts of southern Oregon and set against the backdrop of a controversial fire salvage. The film received wide attention for its groundbreaking, realistic take on the mythology of Sasquatch-Bigfoot.
Munch's other features include The Sleepy Time Gal (2001),starring Jacqueline Bisset as a mother at the end of her life seeking to reconnect with a daughter given up for adoption at birth.
Throughout his career, Munch has received numerous accolades, including being a past Guggenheim fellow, recipient of the Wolfgang Staudte Prize at Berlin, winner of two Independent Spirit Awards, including the "Someone To Watch" Award, and has been featured in two Whitney Biennial exhibitions.
