Northwest Film Forum

Surviving Cliffside opens with a title card that reads, “dedicated to my homestate of West Virginia and all her complexities, contradictions, and immense beauty.” Those complexities and contradictions are explored through tender contemplation and unconventional narrative structure in this rare portrait of rural West Virginia. 

Jon Matthews chronicles the daily struggles and habits (ranging from drugs to beauty pageants) of his cousin EJ’s family by layering images of the impoverished Cliffside community with the hardy spirits that persevere in Appalachia’s forgotten corridors. At the center is Makala, an irrepressible seven-year-old set on becoming Miss West Virginia. 

Matthews, who quit his ACLU lawyer job in order to go to film school in New York, doesn’t serve up Little Miss Sunshine with a slum tourism twist. Unusual editing flairs combine freeze frames, experimental sound design and rapid montage to push the formal limits of documentary. An ethereal acoustic soundtrack by Matthews’ fellow film student evokes the ragged, haunting beauty of the title card. 

• Join us at 4pm before the screening for a free, public conversation with director Jon Matthews, documentarian Amy Benson, and Film Forum program director Courtney Sheehan:

Complexity and Contradiction: Ethical Questions in Documentary Filmmaking 

Many documentaries focus on social issues by following the lives of oppressed and marginalized people. Documentarians face the difficult task of making choices about how to represent their subjects and the worlds they live in. What is the filmmaker's role in addressing the systems that drive oppression? Who gets to make a movie on behalf of whom? Where do the worlds of art and social commentary meet, and where do they diverge? 

"Cliffside is something of a freak show, like Werner Herzog-meets-Honey Boo Boo, but Matthews doesn’t condescend to his country cousins. . .Poverty and drug use are the real pathologies here" - Seattle Weekly

• This screening is part of our long weekend of N-E-X D-O-C-S, a mini festival that celebrates innovative new documentaries from around the world. Get a series pass and see all of the docs at a discount: $40 ($25 for Film Forum Members) >

Surviving Cliffside Trailer from Jon Matthews on Vimeo.