Surviving Cliffside is a 2013 documentary film and the directorial debut of Jon Matthews. The film premiered at the 2014 South by Southwest Film Festival and follows a family that lives in a Cliffside, a trailer park in Alum Creek, West Virginia, known for its crime and drugs. During production, Jon Matthews was mentored by filmmaker Debra Granik (Winter's Bone, Down to the Bone) and filmmaker Spike Lee, who also awarded him a grant to complete the film.Synopsis
The film follows Matthews's cousin E.J. Huffman, who lives in Cliffside with his fiance Brandy and his two daughters Josey and Makala. The seven-year-old Makala has leukemia and has decided to compete in the Little Miss West Virginia pageant. The documentary approaches the family's everyday life and the emotional and financial challenges they must deal with, as well as their attempts to survive Makala's leukemia and their own difficult situations.