Joy Jorgensen | Photo by Eva Napp
You’d be forgiven if, upon meeting Highlands-Cashiers Film Festival’s new creative director Joy Jorgensen, you feel the uncanny sense that you’ve encountered her before.
That’s because she’s been a Plateau summer visitor since she was three, and a Camp Merrie Wood alumna.
Highlands Cashiers Film Festival 2025 | Illeana Douglas
Or you may recall her for her four-years on the ABC series Desperate Housewives as teenager Danielle van de Kamp, patiently Nancy Drewing the odd events and complications bedeviling the residents of Wysteria Lane.
Or, if you’re particularly nerdy like me, you’ve noticed her name popping up as a researcher on those glorious National Geographic documentaries streaming on Disney+.
If you’re a fan of independent cinema, you may have seen the film that she produced, We Strangers, on Amazon Prime.
Highlands Cashiers Film Festival 2025 | Mary Badham
(Let me take a quick pause from the word-count portion of this story to offer a hearty endorsement of this exquisitely crafted movie. The story centers on Ray Martin (played with unflinching honesty by Kirby Howell-Baptiste), a woman living in Gary, Indiana, who works as a house cleaner for wealthier families.
(Her newest clients — the Laich family — are friendly in that slightly performative, liberal suburban way. As Ray becomes more entangled in their lives, the film slowly reveals the emotional and social pressures she’s been carrying. The tension isn’t built on jump scares or plot twists. It’s built on the quiet ache of wanting to belong somewhere without losing yourself. This is superior storytelling – trust me.)
All of these details add up to Joy being the perfect choice to lead the creative team fronting the second iteration of the Highlands Cashiers Film Festival, slated for September 17-20.
Highlands Cashiers Film Festival 2025 | Wesley Wofford
She has an understanding of the unique personalities and sensibilities that give us such a rich cultural landscape; she’s witnessed the unique demands of a plush network-fronted television production and the hand-to-mouth scrambling that freights every independent film; and she has a producer’s instinct to shepherd every aspect of an undertaking (forged at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and honed by scores of behind-the-scenes production chores).
“I came to film through theater and television, and over time I’ve been fortunate to work across many sides of storytelling both big studio projects and smaller festival-driven films,” she says. “Producing independent films that invite conversation is where everything really came together for me.”
That’s the ethos displayed by last year’s premiere of HC Film Festival – it offered deep dives into Hollywood classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and Roman Holiday yet provided a showcase for the premiere of The Gardener, a small movie filmed in Highlands, and Trail Mix, the Audience Choice award winner by Nashville-based filmmaker and graphic designer Glenn Sweitzer.
Last year’s festival-goers were treated to competition film screenings, workshops, emerging filmmakers, and panels with acclaimed industry presenters and award-winning professionals.
“I want to keep all of the things that made Highlands Cashiers Film Festival unique among the festival circuit,” Joy says. “There’s a special spirit here that’s been drawing artists for over 100 years. We’ll be nurturing that spirit and offering lots of events that you won’t find anywhere else – things like destination hikes with filmmakers and performers, house parties, and up-close glimpses behind the curtain.”
We’ll be keeping readers updated on the details springing up like summer wildflowers around the festival through the season. For an up-to-date preview, visit highlandscashiersfilmfestival.com.
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