Steve Kniss and John Klein
On a summer day when the Plateau is at its most generous, the Highlands‑Cashiers Film Festival will once again gather its community around a shared screen. On Sunday, August 16, the festival presents Never Not Yours, the 2025 Feature Film Award winner, at The Village Green in Cashiers—a celebration and a homecoming.
For Joy Jorgensen, Creative Director of HCFF, the return of Never Not Yours feels deeply aligned with the spirit that first inspired the festival. “Directors Steve Kniss and John Klein represent exactly the kind of independent filmmakers HCFF was created to support,” she says. Their work reflects a strong creative vision grounded in collaboration and mutual care—values that sustain independent filmmaking far beyond a single screening.
That sense of shared purpose has guided HCFF from the beginning. Conceived as a welcoming space where filmmakers share work, exchange ideas, and build lasting relationships, the festival has quickly become a gathering point for artists and audiences alike. Supporting filmmakers like Kniss and Klein – and strengthening the community around their work – remains central to what the festival hopes to grow on the Plateau.
For Kniss, the upcoming screening carries quiet resonance. Never Not Yours premiered at the inaugural 2025 HCFF, marking the final stop on a yearlong festival journey. As writer, producer, and program director of Western Carolina University’s Film and Television Production program, bringing the film close to home let students, friends, and family experience it together. The moment grew even more meaningful when Kniss’s wife saw the finished film for the first time – on the big screen.
Set in Nashville, Indiana, the film’s landscape mirrors the Highlands‑Cashiers area in many ways. From the start, Kniss and Klein hoped the story would find its way into communities like this – places where stories unfold slowly and connections run deep. Shot over eight days with a seven‑person crew living together on location, the production was small by design, shaped by care for family life and creative trust. What emerged was not only a film but a lasting bond – one that continues years later.
That ethos still resonates through HCFF. Last year’s programming paired explorations of classic cinema with locally connected premieres, workshops, and conversations led by acclaimed professionals. Looking ahead, Jorgensen is intent on preserving what makes HCFF distinct: a festival shaped as much by place as by film. With destination hikes, house gatherings, and behind‑the‑scenes encounters, the experience extends beyond the screen.
The 2026 Highlands‑Cashiers Film Festival is slated for September 17–20. Visit highlandscashiersfilmfestival.com for updates. But on August 16, at The Village Green, one film, and one community, will again take center stage, exactly where they belong.
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