2026 Backyard Docs Film Festival
Pennsylvania's largest documentary film festival featuring stories that redefine the Rust Belt & Appalachia
Backyard Docs Film Festival is an annual celebration of non-fiction cinema that explores our region’s Rust Belt and Appalachian identity.
The festival showcases documentary films and filmmakers directly connected to our region or that share our region’s identity and culture. Formerly known as The Rust Belt & Appalachia Documentary Film Festival, the Backyard Docs Film Festival continues its trademark DIY screening style, holding screenings in unconventional locations such as abandoned factories, dive bars, rooftops, and backyards. The four-day event will also feature a panel discussion with regional industry leaders in documentary and visual journalism, private rough-cut feedback sessions, professional development workshops with world-renowned filmmakers, and, of course, great afterparties. It’s the one time of year when filmmakers, journalists, and artists of all stripes can come together, build new connections, and help redefine the story of the Rust Belt and Appalachia.
The festival showcases documentary films and filmmakers directly connected to our region or that share our region’s identity and culture. Formerly known as The Rust Belt & Appalachia Documentary Film Festival, the Backyard Docs Film Festival continues its trademark DIY screening style, holding screenings in unconventional locations such as abandoned factories, dive bars, rooftops, and backyards. The four-day event will also feature a panel discussion with regional industry leaders in documentary and visual journalism, private rough-cut feedback sessions, professional development workshops with world-renowned filmmakers, and, of course, great afterparties. It’s the one time of year when filmmakers, journalists, and artists of all stripes can come together, build new connections, and help redefine the story of the Rust Belt and Appalachia.
Door: $15
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