The Backyard is a backyard wrestling

Backyard wrestling

Backyard wrestling , and also referred to as yarding or backyarding is a controversial underground recreation based on the usually untrained practice of professional-style wrestling in a typically low budget environment between predominantly 12 to 30 year old males. Some practitioners have attended...

 documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 directed, produced and edited by Paul Hough

Paul Hough

English born Paul Hough created and directed the multi-award winning film The Backyard . The Backyard received an original rating of NC-17 from the MPAA. The Backyard was named Dvd Of The Month and received the coveted 4 stars in Maxim Magazine . The Backyard was released in theaters in Germany...

 (Director of The Angel

The Angel (film)

The Angel is a 2007 short sci-fi martial arts horror film directed by Paul Hough starring Eddie McGee, Celine Tien and Thomy Kessler. It was inspired by Eddie McGee, a disabled actor who was trained in wire-work...

) and features former WWE and current TNA

TNA

TNA may refer to:*Tamil National Alliance, a political coalition in Sri Lanka*The National Archives, in the United Kingdom*The New Amsterdams, a band*Threose nucleic acid, an analog of the nucleic acid DNA*Tonga Nurses' Association...

 professional wrestler Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam

Robert Alexander "Rob" Szatkowski , better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam , is an American professional wrestler and actor who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

. Released in the USA by HiQi Media and Image Entertainment

Image Entertainment

Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450...

, the documentary originally received a rating of NC-17 from the MPAA.

Plot

The Backyard is about kids who can't afford to go to professional wrestling school and instead wrestle in their backyards using weapons such as barbed wire, glass and staple guns. The film tracks several wrestlers in Arizona, Nevada, California, New York and England.

Distribution

The Backyard was released in theaters in Germany and had a limited theatrical run in USA. It was released onto DVD in all English speaking territories and played on TV in the UK (Channel 4) and Netherlands. The Backyard was also one of the first documentaries ever to be released onto the Portable Sony Playstation (PSP).

Publicity

Wrestlers from the film appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote the film's release in New York. The Backyard was also featured on The Jenny Jones as one of the Top 5 Documentaries of 2002.

Cast

• The Lizard
• Chaos
• Scar
• "Vince McMahon of Backyard Wrestling" Joshua James
• Heartless
• The Retarded Butcher
• Sic
• Phil Snyder
• Mike Hughes
• Ryan Downes
• Chris King
• Marc Narburgh
• Mike Turbeville
• Adam Mikels

The Backyard was scored by Seth Jordan

Seth Jordan

Seth Jordan , born on July 16, 1975 in Queens, New York is an American composer and songwriter. He scored the multi-award winning film The Backyard in 2002 and Redemption in 2003. In 2011, he served as a music supervisor for Michael Zelniker's "Falling..."-External links:* *...

 (SJ). SJ

Awards

• Best Picture at Silver Lake Film Festival
• Audience Award at Brooklyn International Film Festival
• Best Lounge Film at Sonoma Valley Film Festival
• Critic's Choice at Edinburgh International Film Festival
• Director's Choice Award at Texas Film Festival
• DVD of the month by Maxim Magazine

Film Festival Screenings

• SXSW
• Brooklyn International Film Festival
• Sonoma Valley Film Festival
• Edinburgh International Film Festival
• Texas Film Festival
• Atlanta Film Festival
• Florida Film Festival
• Waterfront Film Festival
• Tiburon Film Festival

Critics

The Backyard is called "Astounding" by the New York Times: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE1D81E39F93AA1575BC0A9659C8B63

The Backyard is called "First-rate" by The Chicago Tribune: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-10-10/entertainment/0310100290_1_howard-zinn-wrestling-presidential-election

The Backyard is called "A fascinating emotional rollercoaster" by Film Threat http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=3008/

The Backyard is not for the squeamish, but for those unafraid to look at what is, perhaps, their own metaphorical "backyard," for those willing to stare into the long, dark night of the contemporary American soul, its bone-crunching message is worth hearing" - Washington Post http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-307700.html?key=01-42161A527E1B146E140A0253573044383E4E1A57253A3D0E730E0A60651A607F137119731B37

The Backyard review in TV Guide http://movies.tvguide.com/backyard/review/136999

External links

• The Backyard at the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
  
  
• The Backyard REVIEW & discussions at OFFOFFOFF.com